Euro Juniors 2022: Day three round-up

Team England enjoyed a productive day three at the EUBC Junior European Championships in Montesilvano, Italy as six of the seven boy boxers in action progressed to the quarter-final stages.

It means that of the 16 boxers who started the tournament, 12 have made it through to the last eight stages – seven boys and three girls.

It was a great start to the day for the Three Lions in the first bout in Ring A as Manny Safari cruised to victory at Under 48kg with an accomplished display.

The southpaw, from Home Counties club The Ring, put on a demonstration of how to hit without getting hit, en route to a 30-27, unanimous victory across the board.

Luke Rodda faced host nation boxer  Tiziano Alciati at Under 57kg but was in no way overawed as he secured a 4-1 split decision success.

Tagging his opponent repeatedly on the counter with sharp footwork, he won the first round 3-2 and, crucially, the same three judges gave him the nod in the second round, which he won 4-1, leaving him in a very strong position going into the final round.

The West Ham boxer was able to see things out comfortably, again winning 4-1 to seal an overall success by the same scoreline.

Three more England boxers featured in the evening session with the first two of them competing at the same time in rings A and B.

Leighton Birchall had a comfortable passage in his bout with Serbia’s Nermin Mujdragic, totally dominating their Under 52kg contest.

The Jennings Gym southpaw forced two standing eight counts in the second and a further count in the final three minutes, convincing the referee to halt proceedings in the English boxer’s favour.

Under 54kg contender Adam Maca, meanwhile, showed plenty of character in response to losing the first round 4-1 against Romania’s Daniel Grigorie.

In a battling performance, the Rumbles boxer took rounds two and three to move into the last eight with an overall 4-1 points success.

Callum Kilmore-Walsh was last to go for the Three Lions, but he was unable to make it a magnificent seven, giving it his all before losing unanimously to Ireland’s Tadhg O’Donnell.

The Irish boxer deployed the right tactics by keeping it at long range, but the Wycombe Warriors Fight and Fitness Factory boxer kept coming forward and was competitive to the end.

Two of the England contingent had earlier secured their places in the quarter-finals without even steeping in the ring.

West Ham’s Jake Jarvis (Under 50kg) and Powerday Hooks’ Nathan Barrett were handed byes through to the last eight after six boxers from Ukraine, boxing under the IBA banner, were withdrawn from the tournament, including their scheduled opponents.

Tomorrow’s bouts

Afternoon session (2pm, 1pm UK time)

Ring A, Bout 6: Under 50kg – Alice Pumphrey v Salmeron Gutierrez (Spain).

Ring A, Bout 10: Under 54kg – Ella Lonsdale v Gizbas Isgandar (Azerbaijan).

Ring B, Bout 6: Under 48kg – Nisanur Kokduman (Turkey) v Ruby White.

Ring B, Bout 10: Under 52kg – Ionna Kantzari (Greece) v Keira Bowden.

Evening session (5.30pm, 4.30pm UK time)

Ring A, Bout 9: Under 66kg – Dilara Sak (Turkey) v Lilly Deacon.