Boxing: Aston Brown bullish in champ quest

Lochend boxer Aston Brown remains defiant he will be crowned 75kg Scottish champion despite defeat to Conrad Cummings in the quarter-finals of this year’s World Series Boxing event.

The 22-year-old British Lionhearts star will face Springhill’s Kieran Smith at Meadowbank on Friday and while acknowledging his opponent is a strong and talented individual, Brown, who has previously won the national title at 69kg, is confident he will secure the country’s No. 1 spot.

Brown, who has only recently moved into the middleweight category, said: “I have actually only had two fights at 75kg and they have both been in this year’s Scottish Championships so I don’t think I have done too badly. I am always a confident fighter and always believe I am going to win all my fights.

“Kieran is a very good boxer and can be clever so it will be a good fight, but I’m sure I will do the job.”

A disappointing loss to 
Mexico Guerreros’ Irish boxer Cummings in last Friday’s first-leg tie in London hasn’t left Brown too disheartened with the Glasgow-born fighter believing his inexperience at this particular weight proving to be decisive. However, while Brown remains firmly focused on Friday’s final in the Capital, he will be eager to learn the fate of his British Lionhearts team-mates who are vying for a WSB semi-final spot the same evening in Mexico City.

“I just stood a bit too long when he [Cummings] was in close but I don’t think there was much in the fight to be honest. He is a natural middleweight where I am just moving up to this level so I think the size and strength was the difference. I was the better boxer with more ability but he just had that bit more experience.

“Mexico are a strong team home and away so we are going to be up against it in the second-leg but fingers crossed. I know I have had three fights in WSB and not won any but they have all been very difficult. I am getting faster, fitter and stronger so I think I will be in the running for the team should we make the semi-finals.”

Tickets for this Friday’s Scottish Championships finals can be purchased at Meadowbank Stadium on the night with tickets priced at £15 and £20. Doors open at 7.15pm with boxing due to begin at 8pm.