Birmingham 2022: Gold medal successes for two Team England duo Williams and Orie

Gold medal successes for Delicious Orie and Lewis Williams ensured a strong finale for Team England’s boxing squad at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

The two West Midlanders ensured it was an early evening and night to remember for a passionate home crowd as they delivered major titles on the big stage for the first time.

It followed earlier disappointment for England’s other three finalists, Demie-Jade Resztan, Kiaran Richardson and Gemma Richardson, who missed out on top spot on the podium after losing tough bouts.

Overall, with the conclusion of the boxing competition, it leaves England on two golds, three silver and three bronzes.

The opening bout of the day saw Resztan first up for England against India’s Nitu Ghangas and it was a tight opening round at Under 48kg, with box boxers having their moments.

However, it was the taller Indian boxer who got the nod 4-1 on the scorecards, leaving the New Astley boxer with it all to do.

She upped the tempo in the second round, boxing more on the front foot, but Ghangas was equal to it, winning it unanimously.

And Ghangas further underlined her superiority in the final round as she forced a standing eight count towards the end of the bout to run out a unanimous victor.

The very next bout saw MacDonald paired against another Indian boxer, Amit Panghal, at Under 51kg.

A high octane first round saw both boxers land some excellent shots, but Panghal was adjudged to have done the cleaner work to win it unanimously.

The Sunderland boxer had to receive treatment for a cut during the second round and it was the Indian boxer who continued to find his range the better of the two, taking it 4-1.

And it was the same outcome – 4-1 – in the final round, even though MacDonald perhaps enjoyed his most successful round, landing with a crunching uppercut in particular.

It was nevertheless a brilliant silver medal for MacDonald to back up the European silver he won earlier this year.

The next England Boxer to go was not until the latter part of the afternoon session, when Richardson took to the arena for her Under 60kg contest against Northern Ireland’s Amy Broadhurst.

The Scunthorpe boxer knew she would have her work cut out against Broadhurst, the reigning World Champion, who regularly trains at Islington Boxing Club in north London, but she nevertheless gave it her all in a bid tocause an upset, being the less experienced boxer.

Both were prepared to be patient in the opening rounds, but Broadhurst got in the cleaner shots when the two did engage to win it 10-9 across the board.

It was the same result in the second, and with Richardson deducted a point, she needing a stoppage to change the course of the bout.

But Broadhurst did not let that happen, with an accomplished performance that was well deserving of the gold medal.

For Richardson it nevertheless represents a meteoric rise for the 21-year-old, whose stock continues to rise after winning the European Under-22 Championships in 2021.

The final bout of the afternoon session saw Williams up against Ato Leau Plodzicki-Faoagali of Samoa.

It was a commanding performance from the man from Cleary’s ABC in Leamington Spa, who was boxing in front of a home West Midlands crowd.

His height and reach was far superior to his Samoan counterpart and he used this to his advantage, controlling the bout from start to finish.

Williams took all three rounds unanimously to win Team England’s first boxing gold medal of this 2022 Commonwealth Games!

The final bout of the evening session, and indeed the competition saw Orie facing up against Sagar Ahlawat of India.

Orie made a good start and kept his jab going, but it was the man from India who made the better impression on the judges and took a clean sweep of the cards in round one.

But  round two saw a terrific response from the home boxer. By showing the judges he wanted to work and with Sagar tiring, it was the Englishman’s turn to take a clean sweep of the judges’ scorecards.

Delicately poised, the third and final round brought a rapid start from Orie who threw jabs and uppercuts the way of his opponent in a ruthless manner.

Sagar sustained a cut above his left eye in the final minute after an accidental clash of heads, but he doctor and referee deemed him able to continue, and both boxers saw the bout out, pushing right to the final bell.

A burst of quality from Delicious in the final 15 seconds, including a powerful uppercut may have proved decisive and the crowd erupted once Orie was declared a unanimous points decision to secure him gold.

Pics 1-4 by Andy Chubb (@SheffieldSport) and 5 BBC.

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