Glenrothes Boxing Club wins two golds at Odivelas Box Cup

With 400 boxers from 23 countries involved there was fierce competition for places in the five-day tournament held last month, but the seven fighters showed off their skills and enjoyed success. The Glenrothes team finished ninth out of 53.

Ryan Hanley (13) had just four contests under his belt heading into the Box Cup, but beat Joe McGuire (Ireland) and Wayne Estevas (Spain) to reach the final. He faced favourite Rafael Soltano and secured a fantastic 3-2 points victory to clinch gold.

Matthew Clark (18) produced two huge upsets in the 64kgs tournament, firstly defeating Spain’s national champion Gonero Britto in the semi-final, before going on to win the gold against the very experienced Italian champion Rafael Terristo.

Matthew took the fight to his opponent with a straight right-left combination sending Rafael to the canvas with a broken nose, which was enough for the referee to stop the contest.

Michael Millar (13) was a finalist after a points defeat to Danish national champion Silas Gryholt in the 38kg category, while Cameron Anderson (14) in his fourth bout put in a great display against Germany’s David Duarte but lost on points.

Billy Millar (16) lost a disputed points verdict against Swedish national champion Houerdo Limish. Jordan McBride (20) beat Portugal’s Admilson Alves on points before he lost a very close points decision against Irish national champion Bernard McGovern in the final.

Bradley Grieve (22) in his eighth bout was up against vastly experienced Rafael Patios, Cypriot national champion, and was also narrowly beaten.