Boxing: Young gearing up for his debut across the pond

Published on Saturday 4 July 2009 11:20

EDINBURGH boxer Gary Young will make his debut in the US on 16 July against American opponent Tony Hirsch in San Jose.

Young now lives in Los Angeles, where he trains with another former Capital boxer, unbeaten professional middleweight Craig McEwan.

Welterweight Young will have a shorter trip to make as his first fight had originally been scheduled for Iowa but he's hoping the bout itself will be longer.

He said: "I'm trying very hard to negotiate that the fight with Hirsch be over six rather than the four rounds being proposed.

"Hirsch lost his last bout to Demetrius Andrade on points and I think he wants it over four rounds because he thinks he will try to make a sprint start and nick the decision on points, but I intend to start fast too as I have been waiting a long time to get back into action."

The former Gilmerton amateur would love to follow in the footsteps of McEwan, who has run up an unbeaten 16-fight streak in America and is poised to make a title bid soon.

Meanwhile, Gilmerton's junior British lightweight champion, Connor McCallum, the Capital's last hope of winning a gold medal in the Brandenburg Cup tournament in Germany, crashed out of the competition in the quarter-finals yesterday after being stopped with just 60 seconds left of the fourth and final round due to a nose injury.