Inverness City ABC head coach Laurie Redfern reached a magical milestone as four winning youngsters saw him pass the century mark of producing national champions.
At the Scottish Development Championships, held over two weekends at Ravenscraig, four City boxers returned as gold medal champions, with a silver thrown in for good measure.
The youngest of the crop was 12-year-old Kian Stewart, who is a young brother of George, cutting it out well as a professional under Redfern’s guidance.
Redfern said: “Kian was the star of the show from our point of view. On the first weekend, not only did he stop his first opponent, he stopped his second, which is unusual, to reach the final.”
It was a case of mixed feelings for the lad as he won the 44kg final without throwing a punch as his opponent withdrew from the final due to illness. Nonetheless, his performances on the opening weekend were noted by many.
Teenagers turn on style to triumph
Jonathan Kamphan, 14, whose dad Rung is a former four-times Thai boxing world champion, came through three contests overall to land the 52kg title for his age in his 52kg final against Zachary Jackson (SBA).
Another 14-year-old, Robert Stewart, came through with a unanimous victory over Hawick’s Connor Munro in the 50kg final to take the gold rush to three.
Alasdair Last, 16, racked the tally up to four when he triumphed in the 63kg showdown against Blair Campbell (Lanark), with a unanimous success, having travelled south with just two bouts under his belt, which made his win all the more impressive.
Tyler Macpherson, 14, was also in action in Inverness City ABC colours in the 42kg category, but was edged out in his final against Cooper Yuille (Jonesy’s), 3-2 on a split decision.
Inverness City ABC youngsters rise to tough challenges
Former Scotland coach Redfern was thrilled to have broken the 100-mark of Scottish champions and is sure the latest crop of talent will learn a lot from the Championships.
He said: “I knew I was sitting on 97 champions, so I’m chuffed to get four more this month, but the youngsters really impressed and deservedly came back with their rewards.
“The competition is always well-contested and to come away with four golds and a silver is a great result for the youngsters and for the club.”
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