By Tom Degun

Luke_Campbell_in_black_topNovember 13 - England's Luke Campbell (pictured) stole the show at the inaugural GB Amateur Boxing Championships at the Echo Arena in Liverpool with a phenomenal display that saw him completely outclass Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Iain Weaver 23-6 in the bantamweight final.


Campbell, the 2008 European Champion, was widely tipped to be a future Olympic champion before a serious hand injury last year forced him to take time away from the sport and look on from the sidelines as Weaver usurped him as GB number one.

But the Hull-based fighter, who was the underdog heading into the fight, showed GB Boxing head coach Rob McCracken that he is back to his very best by pummelling his fellow podium squad member and forcing his way right back into London 2012 contention.

Campbell said: "I worked so hard for this fight.

"It was a long build-up and there was a lot of pressure on me.

"Iain's a great fighter and to get such a great win against him means a lot."

McCracken warned that although Campbell's performance was stunning the title winners in Liverpool are not guaranteed selection for the Olympics at London in 2012 and must continue to produce results.

He said: "Luke has come through a difficult patch and taken his chance and a number of the other podium squad boxers underlined the fact they deserve to be number one at this moment in time."

"But the competition for places is such that no-one in the squad is guaranteed their place in the Olympic qualifiers next year.

"They will all get their chance early in 2011 to show they deserve the opportunity."

In the other action, Tommy Stubbs came from four behind to defeat Wales' Andrew Selby 8-4 and become flyweight champion while Commonwealth champion Simon Valilly beat England's Danny Price 4-3 in the heavyweight final.

Tom_Stalker_celebrating_victoryThere was also victory for another Commonwealth Games gold medallist Tom Stalker (pictured) who narrowly edged out Josh Taylor 10-9 in the lightweight final while the light-flyweight final saw 17-year-old Charlie Edwards eased past Welshman Ben Baker 18-5.

Bradley Saunders saw off Scotland's Jason Easton with a powerful left hook in the second round of the light-welterweight final while Antony Fowler lost 15-5 not keep up with GB's Callum Smith in the welterweight final.

Anthony Ogogo put in a measured display to beat Wales' Keiron Hardin 8-4 while the light-heavyweight contest between Scotland's Sean Finney and Obed Mbwakongo came to a controversial end when Finney's bloody nose deemed enough for the referee to halt proceedings a few seconds shy of the first round bell to give Mbwakongo victory.

In the final bout of the night Anthony Joshua made his own case for a place in the GB podium squad by beating current squad member Amin Isa 6-3 in the super-heavyweight final.

Joshua said: "It's a stepping stone to bigger things.

"You can't miss one, you gotta keep on stepping.

"You can see by my performance I wanted it; it's very important to me."

The competition in Liverpool also featured women's boxing which was shown on BBC for the first time ever.

In the lightweight final, Natasha Jonas beat close friend Amanda Coulson 11-10 with just moments left while Wales' Lynsey Holdaway was no match for Nicola Adams in the women's flyweight division as she went down 19-2 to the World Championship silver medallist.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
October 2010: BBC to show women's boxing for first time
August 2010: Chance for boxers to force themsleves into London 2012