Highland Boxing Academy trio overcome 15-hour drive from Inverness to take season’s tally of champions to nine after successes at Warehouse Box Cup in Wales
Highland Boxing Academy took three champions home from their longest ever mainland UK journey to a tournament.
The Warehouse Box Cup took place just outside Swansea last weekend, and with delays on the road it ended up being around a 15-hour drive down for the Inverness-based contingent.
Thankfully, the boxers did have 24 hours to recover, but it still took its toll - with Emma Miller struggling to adapt and having to settle for a silver medal.
Three others, though, went one better to claim gold.
Kian and Robert Stewart each had to come through semi finals first, with the former winning by unanimous decision while the later recorded a third-round stoppage.
That saw them through to finals day, where they joined Brodie Zineldin in representing HBA.
All three would win their finals, and while the Stewarts each needed split decisions to have their hands raised Zineldin secured an emphatic second-round stoppage.
Head coach Liam Foy was delighted with the haul from what was a particularly draining weekend.
“I wasn’t boxing, but even I hadn’t recovered by the time we were coming back up the road to get home - it really took it out of us all,” he said.
“To have four boxers and them all to get medals, three of those being gold, at an international Box Cup where people came from all over Europe is phenomenal.
“It was a massive achievement. We’ve had a lot of kind messages from different coaches and officials in the Scottish boxing community to give us a wee nod for our achievements, which were flying the flag for Scotland.
“Kian and Robert obviously had to box in semi finals and their finals, and they were just phenomenal.
“Brodie was the last one. He had to wait the longest of all four, but he just had a buzz about him all weekend. He was ready to go and ready to perform, and he did.”
Adding those three champions has taken HBA’s total for the season to nine at around the halfway point.
Last season was a record-breaking one for the club in that sense, as they claimed 18 titles.
This weekend Isabella Fioretti and Shaunie Gold will look to move HBA past halfway to that tally when they compete at the Women’s Winter Box Cup in Manchester.
“We always look to try and hit double figures, and we’re almost there now,” Foy reasoned.
“I would like to think that one if not both of Isabella and Shaunie can secure gold at that and take us into double figures halfway through the season.
“A lot of that goes down to the opportunities we give boxers to go and compete. Making big journeys like these are part of our success, and we’ve got lots of stuff lined up for 2025.
“We’re continuing to grow as a club, and as we grow the medal tallies grow with it.”
