Celtic title wins for Glenrothes girls on historic night of boxing

History was made at the Gilvenbank Hotel last Friday as Glenrothes Boxing Club hosted Scotland’s first ever pro-am boxing show.
Emma McCulloch (left) and Effy Kathoupoli, Glenrothes Boxing Club female pro fighters.Emma McCulloch (left) and Effy Kathoupoli, Glenrothes Boxing Club female pro fighters.
Emma McCulloch (left) and Effy Kathoupoli, Glenrothes Boxing Club female pro fighters.

And it proved a successful night for the host club with female fighters Emma McCulloch and Effy Kathoupoli emerging as Celtic Nations title winners.

In addition there were five amateur fights on the undercard which all resulted in Glenrothes Boxing Club victories as Jordan McBride, Michael Millar, Billy Millar, Nathan Levers and Fraser Scott all claimed points decisions. 

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In the first pro fight, Emma boxed late replacement Claudia Ferenczi from Slovakia for the light flyweight Celtic international title.

Up against a more experienced boxer with over 20 wins in her career, Emma just boxed to clear instructions and won every round with her nice clean jab and combination punches, emerging with a clear cut 60-54 points decision.

The main event for the Celtic Nations title saw Effy boxing at super featherweight for the first time against the unbeaten top girl with a record of three wins and no defeats, Siobhan O’Leary from Ireland. 

Siobhan was 100 per cent sure she would be taking the title back home to Ireland but Effy had other plans and what a fight it turned out to be. 

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The duo met with non-stop punching in the middle of the ring in the first round, until with 20 seconds remaining, Effy was caught with a right hand that put her down on the canvas for an eight count.

This woke Effy up as she came storming out for the second round with three and four punch combinations that really hurt Siobhan. 

The third round was Effy’s all the way, and with every punch landing her opponent was looking towards her own corner for help.

The fourth, fifth and sixth rounds were won comfortably by the Glenrothes boxer and most referees would have stopped the contest, but the Irish girl held on until the final bell. The fight was scored 59-55 in favour of Effy. 

These were excellent wins for both girls with Glenrothes Boxing Club coach Steven McGuire (inset) now looking towards a Commonwealth or British title fight later this year for each fighter.