Highland Boxing Academy teenager wins gold medal at national championships
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Highland Boxing Academy head coach Liam Foy is confident more triumphs will come for latest champion Robert Stewart.
The 15-year-old led the way for HBA in terms of success at the National Development Championships in Ravenscraig last weekend, taking gold in the junior D Class category for athletes with between 11 and 15 bouts on their record.
With the Golden Gloves quickly approaching at the end of February, more success could follow quickly for Stewart – and Foy is sure he has the work ethic to add more accolades soon.
“Nothing was going to stop him, it was a really solid performance to get his first title for the club,” Foy said.
“Robert has only been at the club for six months. He’s a great lad, he has a great hunger and commitment in the gym.
“On the way home, Robert said the only time he’s taking off before the Golden Gloves is the last week to recover.
“He’s got a great mindset and a great style of boxing, and he proved that last weekend to overcome the two opponents he had. Everyone at the gym has a great work ethic, but Robert is a young lad who has his eyes on the prize.”
While Stewart was celebrating success, it was an otherwise frustrating weekend for HBA, who saw their squad reduced even before travelling down when Brodie Zineldin broke a toe.
“Three won on the Saturday, which that left us with five finals going into the Sunday,” Foy added.
“Lewis Urquhart and Cole Fraser boxed at the same time, and I can’t fault their performances, we just didn’t get the decisions.
“Joe Kinsella boxed the perfect first round. Then he chose to use different tactics in the second and basically gave away a round, and some of the judges didn’t go for him. That was a very hard one to take.
“Lindsay Fulton suffered an injury around her eye and we withdrew to protect her, but she’s fine.”
