SCOTTISH NOVICE CHAMPIONSHIPS

East Kilbride boxer Giordano Bruno is celebrating after claiming gold at the Scottish Novice Championships.

He came through three bouts representing Cambuslang-based O’Neil’s Boxing Club and claimed victory despite having the hardest draw in the tournament.

In his opening match he met a skilful southpaw in Sandy Stewart. Giordano did enough in each round in a close contest and landed the cleaner and heavier shots to take a 4-1 decision.

In his semi-final contest,

Giordano faced off with Aidan Tarap of Nith Valley.

The first round was hard to split but in the second round the O’Neil’s boxer started putting his opponent more on the backfoot. In the final round Giordano hurt the tiring Tarap, giving him a count on his way to a unanimous points win.

Onto the final and Giordano got tore straight into the Forgewood boxer he faced in the gold medal match.

Early on it looked like his opponent’s legs were starting to wobble, but on the second round the Forgewood boxer landed some nice clean shots, making it one round each.

Giordano, however, came out firing in the last round, and although he missed with the odd punch, he worked at a high volume and did not give his opponent a chance to settle, giving him the gold medal by a 4/1 judges decision.

A spokesman for O’Neil’s said: “Giordano loves the sport, as even when he’s not at the club training he is spending hours in the gym or hitting the heavy bag at home.

“This was Giordano’s third contest and he had a hard battle against a skilful boxer from Forgewood.

“The coaches are proud of his efforts.”