BOXERS from the GB Boxing Olympic squad won every category in this weekend’s (12/13 November 2010) first ever GB Amateur Boxing Championship at the Echo Arena Liverpool.

The competition, which pitted the best amateurs from England, Scotland and Wales against GB Boxing’s first choice boxers, saw nine victories for Great Britain and two for England.  All eleven of the winners are members of GB Boxing’s Podium or Development squads.

“This has been an excellent weekend of boxing and a very good test for the men and women on the GB boxing programme,” said GB Boxing’s Performance Director, Rob McCracken.  “There have been some excellent performances in the competition and it will certainly have an influence on the evolution of the Olympic programme next year as we build up to 2012.”

The Championship was screened live on the BBC’s red button.  It featured a number of long–awaited clashes and was the first time that men and women have competed on the same bill to be crowned Champion of Great Britain.

In the men’s Bantamweight (56Kg) category, Luke Campbell, competing for England, confirmed his return to form with a 23-6 victory of 2010 European Championship silver medallist Iain Weaver.

It was followed by a titanic clash in the women’s 60Kg category between long-standing rivals for the Olympic slot, Natasha Jonas and Amanda Coulson.   Boxing in front of her home crowd, Jonas built up a 9-6 lead before Coulson rallied in the last round to draw level at 10 points all.  As the crowd cheered a fantastic advert for the women’s sport, Jonas landed a scoring blow in the dying seconds to clinch a narrow 11-10 victory in the bout of the evening.

In the 69Kg category, Commonwealth silver medallist, Callum Smith confirmed himself as Great Britain’s number one Welterweight with a victory over local rival and Anthony Fowler.  Fellow Commonwealth medallist, Anthony Ogogo, did the same at Middleweight with an 8-4 win against Keiron Harding from Wales.

At Heavyweight (91Kg), Simon Vallily overcame England’s highly experienced ABA Champion, Danny Price in a close fought 4-3 win.

An ankle injury picked-up in Friday’s semi-final meant Martin Ward was unable to compete against Liverpool’s Tom Stalker in the 60Kg category, so Scotland’s Josh Taylor stepped-in to take on the home favourite in a re-match of the recent Commonwealth Games final.  In a non-Championship contest, the young Scot looked to be on the way to avenging his defeat in Delhi before a final round rally from Stalker edged him to a 10-9 victory.

A stunning last round saw Oldham’s Tommy Stubbs come from 8-4 down to beat Wales’ Andrew Selby 10-9 in the Flyweight (52Kg) category.

Earlier in the evening, Croydon’s 17-year old Charlie Edwards served notice of his talent with a convincing 18-5 win over Wales’ Ben Baker at Light-Flyweight (49Kg).  In the women’s 51Kg category, two-time World silver medallist Nicola Adams showed her class with a 19-2 win over Lynsey Holdaway from Wales.

After Friday’s edge-of-the seat semi-final win over Scott Cardle in the bout of the Championship, Bradley Saunders had an easier night in the 64Kg final stopping Scotland’s Jason Easton the second round.   In the 81Kg, Obed Mbwakango secured victory for GB Boxing with a first round stoppage against Scotland’s Sean Finney.

Full results:

49Kg - Charlie Edwards (GB) beat Ben Baker (WAL), 18-5

51Kg – Nicola Adams (GB) beat Lynsey Holdaway (WAL), 19-2

52Kg – Tommy Stubbs (GB) beat Andrew Selby (WAL), 10-9

56Kg – Luke Campbell (ENG) beat Iain Weaver (WAL), 23-6

60Kg – Natasha Jonas (GB) beat Amanda Coulson (ENG), 11-10

60Kg – Tom Stalker (GB) beat Josh Taylor (SCO), 10-9

64Kg – Bradley Saunders (GB) beat Jason Easton (SCO), RSC R2

69Kg – Callum Smith (GB) beat Anthony Fowler (ENG), 15-5

75Kg – Anthony Ogogo (GB) beat Keiron Harding (WAL), 8-4

81Kg – Obed Mbwakango (GB) Sean Finney (SCO), RSC R1

91Kg – Simon Vallily (GB) beat Danny Price (ENG), 4-3

91Kg + - Anthony Joshua (ENG) beat Amin Isa (GB), 6-3