Hughes punches his way to England gold (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Hughes punches his way to England gold

10:15am Thursday 3rd July 2008

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Boxing: Malmesbury mauler Joe Hughes claimed gold for England in the Three Nations after defeating the top two Scottish boxers in Edinburgh.

The 17-year-old, who impressed the England selectors with his march to the Junior ABA final last month, broke the nose of Scottish number two in the semi-final before winning the final by 19 points to four.

Hughes, who was fighting in the 64kg category, said: "It feels brilliant. This was my last year as a junior so I'm really happy to have won it.

"I hope I've now proved myself to the selectors. I showed them I could do more than just scrap, I showed them I can box."

The light welterweight was drawn against Damien McGinn in his semi-final bout and stopped his opponent in the second round.

Hughes said: "He was a tall lad so I worked on my jab and landed some clear scoring shots.

"In the second round I stepped it up and hit him with some big shots.

"His nose was bleeding pretty badly, the doctor had a look at him and said his nose was broken so his corner pulled him out of the fight."

In the other semi-final Scottish number one Sandy Forsyth beat the Welsh challenger.

In the final Hughes controlled the fight from the first bell.

He said: "He's another tall lad so I started out in a similar way using my jab to score points early.

"After the first round I was up 5-1 and then 8-2 after the second round.

"I stepped it up in the third and was 11-2 going into the last round.

"In the fourth I really went for it and landed some big shots to win it 19-4."

Hughes hopes to build on his success when England face Ireland, although the fixture is yet to be confirmed.

He said: "I'm taking a week off to celebrate the win and relax then it'll be back to the gym.

"Hopefully I'll be in the next England squad against Ireland if it goes ahead."

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