Highland Boxing Academy celebrate five gold medallists at National Championships
Highland Boxing Academy experienced major success when five of their boxers returned from the National Development Championships with gold medals and became Scottish champions.
Ethan Hoult from Fortrose was crowned Scottish champion when he claimed gold in the 50kg A Class for athletes with between zero and three bouts on their record.
Luka Kushch from Inverness secured gold in the Schools 2012 40kg A Class with an impressive three wins over the two weekends.
Taylor Rattray from Inverness secured gold in the competition's largest category, Elite Male 75kg A Class, winning all four bouts over the two weekends.
Alexander Russell from Inverness secured gold in one of the competition's best contests with a unanimous win in the Junior 54kg B Class division on the first weekend.
Luke Urquhart from Dingwall was crowned Scottish champion when he secured gold in the Elite Male 67kg with knockout wins in both his semi-final and final bouts.
The club also saw two of the athletes pick up silver medals at the competition.
They included Ralf Mihalkins who had to settle for silver in his final after winning his semi final. Aidan Mckinlay had to settle for silver in the Youth 67kg B Class Final against a tricky opponent.
Brodie Black and Henry Leitch left the competition in the preliminary stages and Troy Stewart secured an impressive win in the quarter finals but lost in his semi-final.
Head coach Liam Foy says it was a fantastic performance by the entire squad at Ravenscraig.
“Taylor boxed in the competition’s biggest division and fought four fights over two weekends,” said Foy.
“As he progressed through the tournament, so did the calibre of opponents. To take the gold medal from the biggest division is a phenomenal achievement.
“Luke had to get through a semi final and final to win his competition with two wins in two days. He was never in the ring for more than two and a half rounds.
“He won his first match with a body shot in the second round and won the final with a knock out in the first round. “It was a special performance from Luke.”
Foy gave special praise to Luka who moved from Ukraine to Inverness and has been impressive since joining the club.
“Luka joined us last summer and for him to box for the club and wins three bouts over two weeks to win the gold medal was fantastic.”