Lochaber Phoenix Club boxer wins place in European schoolboy team

LOCHABER Phoenix Club boxer Cameron Whyte, fresh from becoming GB schoolboy champion a fortnight ago, received more good news last weekend when he was officially named as one of a four-strong team to represent Scotland at the European Schoolboy Championships.

Although only 14 years old, Cameron has great pedigree, having been Scottish champion for four years and now the reigning GB champion. His achievements are such that he has won every single championships he has ever entered on the British mainland.

This won’t be his first visit to the European championships, to be held in Zagreb in Croatia over eight days beginning next weekend, having reached the quarter-finals last year when the tournament was held in Russia.

The Lochaber youngster really pushes himself to the limit in his quest for success. Three mornings a week he is up before 7am for sprints and is in the boxing gym for six sessions a week.

These sessions incorporate technical and open sparring, bag work, pad work, floor exercises, core strength work and technical shadow boxing.

By the time he leaves for Croatia, Cameron will have travelled to the Boxing Scotland high performance gym in Glasgow six times in the three weeks prior to leaving for squad training with the Scotland team.

His dedication to his sport is not confined to his training as he takes particular care with his diet and has held his weight for four months through healthy eating.

The reason there is such a small squad going to these championships is that, because of the high cost of travelling to such a prestigious event, only boxers believed to have a chance of winning medals have been selected.

The Scotland camp has high hopes of Cameron doing well due to his talent and preparation but, of course, with the judging being subjective due to the nature of the scoring he will also have to rely on a little luck to help make his aspirations become reality.