Young Ross-shire boxers win national titles
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TWO young fighters from Ross-shire are making great strides with their boxing careers after picking up national titles.
Ewan Gliniecki (11), from Alness, and Dingwall’s Lewis Urquhart (15), both took gold at the Scottish School and Junior Championships, putting them on the radar of Scotland coaches.
Gliniecki saw off Taylor Gray of Cleland Boxing Club in the 2005 schoolboy 38.5kg final, while Urquhart beat Irvine’s James Affleck by unanimous decision.
Both fighters box out of Highland Boxing Academy in Inverness and Urquhart will travel to Glasgow this weekend for training with the Scottish national side.
Gliniecki, who has competed internationally at kickboxing through Raijin Martial Arts, is the club’s youngest champion. He does not have an age band with Scotland he can represent.
Club head coach Liam Foy is hopeful Gliniecki can still travel for training, with a view to making the step up next year.
“There’s not a British Championship age band for Ewan, so he will have to wait until next year when he’s a year older,” said Foy. “But it’ll be a good experience for him.
“Ewan has been mixing it at a high level in the gym and I wouldn’t have taken him down there if I wasn’t confident he’d progress.”
Urquhart, a fourth year pupil at Dingwall Academy, made up for the disappointment suffered by younger brother Ruari at the same competition, held in Ravenscraig.
The younger Urquhart was beaten in the semi-finals of the 2005 32.5kg event, losing to Viewpark’s Shaun Roberts. Both Urquharts, however, were crowned junior novice champions in December.
Gliniecki returned from the Unified World Kickboxing Championships in Italy at the end of last year with a gold and bronze medal, while Foy has been impressed with his transition to a different sport.
