Boxing: Uni show turns destructive

WITH no less than 11 inside-the-distance wins out of a total of 18 bouts, the Scottish University boxing championships hosted by Edinburgh University ensured that destructive punching was the order of the day.

Edinburgh middleweight Steve Shields retained his Scottish varsity 75kg crown at the Pleasance Centre by beating Strathclyde challenger Mike Atkinson with a barrage of head shots to stop his Glasgow rival in round three.

Edinburgh boxing team captain Lauri Lutsar was stopped in the first round by the swarming aggression of Scott Blair of Aberdeen but Edinburgh Napier heavyweight Chris Koo restored Capital honour by stopping Abertay's Nigel Dawskin in the second round of the 91kg final after dominating his opponent in the first.

Koo, who also boxes for the Capital's Holyrood club, had previously impressed in his semi-final bout by halting Edinburgh's David Smillie in round two of their bout.

The host club's other Scottish title winner was featherweight Jack Davis, who outscored Aberdeen's Rory Paterson.

However, in the only women's final, at bantamweight, Edinburgh's Magdalene Berns was well beaten on points by the more technically accomplished Sinead Sheehan of Aberdeen.

Meanwhile, two young Craigmillar prospects also won handily at Fort William's Nevis Centre on a Highland versus Lowland select tournament.

Craigmillar light-flyweight Joe Murray oupointed Lochaber's Chris Bradley while the Capital outfit's flyweight Daniel Wickstead won on points over Lochaber Phoenix's Denver Small.

THE Scottish Novice championships which will take place on Saturday and Sunday at Bowhill Community Centre in Fife have attracted an amazing record entry of 300 boxers, ensuring that fans paying at the door of the Fife venue will get around 100 bouts or more for their money.