Rosie Eccles and Taylor Bevan head to Poland
GB Boxing selects 13 men and women from England, Scotland and Wales that will have the chance to secure Olympic qualification at European Games 2023
GB Boxing has selected the 13 men and women that will compete at the forthcoming European Games in Krakow, Poland where they will have an opportunity to secure qualification for next Summer’s Olympic Games in Paris.
The boxers will be part of a contingent of 178 athletes that will represent Team GB at the multi-sport event from 21 June – 2 July 2023 when 44 places to box at Paris 2024 will be on offer.
Team GB’s boxing line-up is comprised of seven men and six women from England, Scotland and Wales and includes seven boxers that won medals at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
The seven male selections include 2021 European champion, Harris Akbar (ENG) and three Commonwealth Games gold medallists, Delicious Orie (ENG), Lewis Williams (ENG) and Reese Lynch (SCO). They are joined by Kiaran MacDonald (ENG) and Taylor Bevan (WAL), who both won silver at Birmingham 2022. Talented newcomer, Jack Dryden (ENG), completes the men’s team at featherweight.
The group of six women includes 2022 Commonwealth Games gold medallist, Rosie Eccles (WAL), Demie-Jade Resztan (ENG), who won silver in Birmingham and Tokyo Olympian, Charley Davison (ENG), who will be looking to secure qualification for her second Olympic Games when the action gets underway in Krakow.
The trio will be joined in Poland by Kerry Davis (ENG) and Shona Whitwell (ENG) who took part in the 2022 World Championships in Turkey and Elise Glynn (ENG) who boxed at the 2022 European championships in Montenegro.
GB Boxing’s Performance Director, Rob McCracken said: “The Paris Olympic cycle is shorter than the usual four years (owing to Covid) and means this qualifying event has come around very early, so this will be a test for the boxers.
The European Games is always a top-quality competition and I expect this one to be especially challenging. It will be competitive in every weight class and our boxers will need to be at their best to secure qualification as they are competing for a relatively small number of Olympic places.
“Changes to the weight categories for Paris 2024 mean the men’s selection was particularly competitive and has resulted in a lot of talented boxers in the GB Boxing squad missing out on this occasion which is disappointing because many of them have the ability to go to the Olympic Games and do well. It is unfortunate but this is the harsh reality of elite sport and means that the boxers we have selected need to look forward to the challenge and make the most of this opportunity.”
Another boxer in good form is Wales’s Rosie Eccles who also won gold in her most recent outing at the Czech Grand Prix in May. She will be competing at her second European Games after representing Team GB in Minsk in 2019.
Eccles said: “It feels really good to be selected for the European Games and a proud moment to represent Team GB again as it is not an opportunity that comes around too often.
“To be able to go out there and have a chance to qualify for the Olympics, which is only a year away, is really exciting. It’s what I’ve been aiming for since the age of eight years old so to qualify at the Games in Krakow would be amazing and a dream come true.”
The 13 boxers from the GB Boxing squad will be joined in Poland by Cindy Ngamba, who is a ‘Training partner’ of the GB Boxing squad and will compete at middleweight for the ‘Fair Chance’ Refugee team.
Born in Cameroon, Ngamba, is in the process of applying for a British passport and trains with the GB Boxing squad at its base in Sheffield. Although she does not receive any funding from the World Class Programme (WCP) for boxing, Ngamba will share accommodation with the British team in Krakow where she will be supported by coaches and support staff from GB Boxing.
The number of boxing weight categories for Paris 2024 has been changed since Tokyo 2020 and means there is one fewer men’s weight classes and one more for women. The boxing competition at the European Games will be held at the 13 Olympic weight categories which will see more than 350 men and women compete for 44 places at Paris 2024.
The full list of boxers selected by GB Boxing is:
WOMEN
Demie-Jade Resztan
Light-flyweight - 50kg
4
England
Cambridge (New Astley)
Charley Davison
Bantamweight – 54kg
4
England
Lowestoft (Triple A)
Elise Glynn
Featherweight - 57kg
4
England
Solihull
(West Warwicks ABC)
Shona Whitwell
Lightweight – 60kg
4
England
Cambridge (St Ives ABC)
Rosie Eccles
Welterweight – 66kg
4
Wales
Cardiff (Pontypool ABC)
Kerry Davis
Middleweight – 75kg
2
England
Cheltenham
(Small Heath ABC)
MEN
Kiaran MacDonald
Flyweight – 51kg
2
England
Sunderland
(Sunderland ABC)
Jack Dryden
Featherweight – 57kg
4
England
Newcastle
(Birtley ABC)
Reese Lynch
Light-welterweight – 63.5kg
4
Scotland
Fauldhouse
(Rob Roy ABC)
Harris Akbar
Light-middleweight – 71kg
4
Wales
Bradford (Bradford Police & College)
Taylor Bevan
Light-heavyweight - 80kg
4
Wales
Eastleigh
(Roose Boxing Club)
Lewis Williams
Heavyweight - 92kg
2
England
Leamington Spa
(Clearys Gym)
Delicious Orie
Super-heavyweight - 92kg +
2
England
Wolverhampton
(Small Heath ABC)
Fair Chance
Cindy Ngamba
Middleweight – 75kg
2
Fair Chance
Bolton
(Halliwell ABC)
The team will travel to Krakow on Monday 19 June 2023. The boxing gets underway on Friday 23 June 2023.
The results of all the bouts involving boxers from Great Britain will be posted on GB Boxing’s social media channels and at www.gbboxing.org.uk.
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