Port Seton boxing ace Louise Mitchell relishes her big test

Holyrood boxing club lightweight Louise Mitchell works outside the ropes as a chef and, when she steps into the ring tomorrow at Meadowbank to become the first woman to box for Scotland, she is confident of having the recipe for success.

Mitchell takes on Welsh champion Charlene Jones as part of a Home International match between the cream of Scotland's amateur boxers and their counterparts from Wales.

The Port Seton native said: "I've had great punch combination practice on the pads with my Holyrood club coach Bradley Welsh which has sharpened me up and I've also had great training sessions with (Scottish women's team coach] Mark Geraghty.

"I have also had some tough sparring sessions with male boxers, like Ryan Love, in the Holyrood club and I neither want or expect any favours from my male colleagues in these sessions.

"I know that my opponent has had more bouts than me but I am confident I can hold my own with her and make my first international bout a winning one.''

Scottish women's team coach Geraghty is also upbeat about Mitchell's chances of winning her 60kg lightweight clash. He said: "Charlene Jones has an impressive record, but Louise is no slouch either. At least one of her previous bouts at club level were voted Best Bout of the Show and Louise has a terrific left jab which - allied to her height and reach - makes her a difficult opponent to tag cleanly. I'm confident she will do very well.''

The last time an Edinburgh boxer, Leith Victoria's George Hand, clashed in an international ring contest with a Welsh rival, Lennie "The Lion'' Williams, back in 1962, he was stopped in the fourth round. However, Lochend coach Terry McCormack is confident his flyweight charge, Liam Tervit, is poised to defeat opponent Otis Evans. "Despite being only 14, Liam Tervit is so strong that I can't risk him sparring with other junior boxers," said McCormack. "As a result, Tervit has been having hard sparring sessions with 2010 Commonwealth Games silver medallist Josh Taylor as well as David Dickson and featherweight Steve Tiffany. They are all senior class boxers, yet all of them have commented on how fantastically strong Tervit is."

The eastern contingent on view for Scotland at Meadowbank also includes Kingdom light-flyweight Brandon Singh and Kelty's exciting and aggressive lightweight Danny Tarling, who have potentially crowd-pleasing scraps with Welsh opponents Robbie Vernon and Aled Cook.

Similarly, ringside fans will get a chance to see in the flesh two of Britain's top bantamweight and light-welterweight boxers in a bill-topping double header that sees Glasgow's Joe Ham go head-to-head with England's Qais Ashfaq, while Ham's fellow Glaswegian Aston Brown clashes with England's Tommy Langford. Similarly, West Lothian fans making the trek to tomorrow's international can cheer on Fauldhouse featherweight Robbie McKechnie, who faces Welshman Nathan Flanagan.

Meanwhile, ringside fans have also been handed an unexpected bonus by the ABS selectors, who have drafted Lochend's 2010 Commonwealth Games lightweight silver medallist Josh Taylor into the Scottish squad against Wales. slick southpaw was originally scheduled to box against Northern Ireland in a second international match at Meadowbank next week but will now take on a Welsh opponent tomorrow. ABS officials have intimated that tickets are still available for the 700-capacity Meadowbank venue, with the action starting at 1pm.