Twenty Round of 16 preliminary contests featured on the third day in boxing at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Scotland’s boxers delighted this Sunday, Samuel Hickey and Reese Lynch both worked hard to win their contests.
The Commonwealth Games is one of the top multisport events next to the Olympic Games and European Games and after four years of break, the competition returned to the agenda. Altogether 231 boxers from 55 out of the 72 participating NOCs are competing in the boxing event of the new Commonwealth Games from all of the five Confederations. The finals of the Commonwealth Games will be held in Birmingham on August 7.
The bout of the day
Scotland’s Reese Lynch won the Golden Gloves of Vojvodina Youth Tournament in July 2018 when he defeated all of the stars as a debutant of this level. The Scottish light welterweight (63.5kg) boxer had an impressive performance at the Belgrade 2021 AIBA World Boxing Championships where he took a historic bronze medal. Lynch had an easy success as first but his second rival was India’s five-time ASBC Asian Boxing Championships medallist Shiva Thapa who has 13 years of international experiences. The Indian was quicker in all of the exchanges in the first round and took the lead on the judges’ scorecards. Lynch received the right instructions from his coaches, adopted the tempo of the Indian boxer and from the second round, he could land effective shots. The Scottish boxer fought over his limits and his stamina decided the best bout of the day in Birmingham.
The surprise of the day
Guerney is a small island in the channel between England and France and the country sent an experienced boxer to the Commonwealth Games, William Le Poullain. The middleweight (75kg) boxer lives in Birmingham and he impressed all of the experts with his wonderful first round. He had a tremendous left-hook and another fantastic right-handed jab, knocking down Northern Ireland’s Jake James Tucker in the first round twice. Tucker blocked some of Le Poullain’s aggressive attacks in the second round but the Northern Irish boxer was not able to use his height advantage well enough. The taller Tucker was better in the second and third rounds but this was still far from his best performance and the attacking Guernsey boxer joined the quarter-finals.
The Round-Up
Northern Ireland sent a strong team to the Commonwealth Games and their 2018 silver medallist, Carly McNaul opened the third competition day in Birmingham. The veteran boxer had to meet one of the medal favourites of the light flyweight (50kg), Australia’s Kristy Harris who achieved a bronze at the 2018 AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships. The Aussie boxer tried to keep the distance but McNaul moved forward without any stoppage and reduced the range. The Northern Irish girl was not able to deliver her best ever performance today but her aggressive attacks were enough to advance to the quarter-finals.
Scotland’s Samuel Hickey claimed a bronze medal at the EUBC European Men’s Elite Boxing Championships in Yerevan and he is his nation’s high hope in this Commonwealth Games. He combined his jabs with body shots against Saint Lucia’s Kyghan Mortley in the first round of their middleweight (75kg) contest. He overcame the Caribbean boxer with quick attacks in the second round and he knew more about boxing than his Saint Lucian opponent. Hickey had a huge advantage after two rounds of fight and secured his place in the quarter-finals easily.
England’s Lewis Richardson was silver medallist at the EUBC European Men’s Elite Boxing Championships in Armenia and opened his campaign with an excellent style of boxing on Day1. He faced Uganda’s Yusuf Nkobeza in the second preliminary round, against a newcomer in the international stage but his African opponent was seriously tough and aggressive in the first round. Richardson came back to the contest in the middle of the second round and found the best weapon against Nkobeza. The English middleweight (75kg) boxer enjoyed the support of the crowd and he was able to turn back the bout on home soil.
England’s Joseph Tyers had a great opening at the Commonwealth Games on Day1 and he had the best tactics against another smaller opponent in the evening session. He faced Papua New Guinea’s Pacific Games winner John Ume who competed in the last edition of the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast. The Oceanian boxer moved forward without any stoppage from the first seconds but Tyers had amazing footwork and landed his counter-punches with perfect timing. The 22-year-old English boxer won the bout following the cuts of the Papua New Guinean pride and secured his place in the last eight.
The quotes of the day
“It was a really good first fight but far from my best performance. I am happy to get the win and move onto my next contest. I think the third round was the best today, I had to work non-stop to win this preliminary challenge. I have to do much better next time in the quarter-finals,” added Northern Ireland’s Carly McNaul.
“Obviously both guys are delighted to progress in the Games as well as the whole team coaches and fans. Reese Lynch had to box at his best especially in the second and third rounds to get himself back into the fight which he did excellently and got stronger and better as the fight went on. Sam Hickey’s contest was totally different, he dictated the tempo from the start to the finish. He did not really have to go into top gear which was good, and both moved forward. So all in all, a fantastic Sunday shift has been done,” said Scotland’s head coach Mike Keane after the sessions.