Published: Wednesday, 6th August, 2008 12:00
Alloa boxer wins British silver medal
By Jamie MaCaulay
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Boxer Joshua Barnes is delighted to win silver at the British Championships.
Pic by: Jan van der Merwe
ALLOA'S Scottish champion Joshua Barnes took another huge step towards his dream of a full-time career in boxing at the weekend.
Joshua travelled to Wales with a strong Scottish squad to compete in the British Championships.
In the 70kg category, Barnes was up against Welsh champion M Pinnock in the semi-final.
Pinnock is a very experienced classy boxer, but his home advantage counted for nothing as Barnes roared out of his corner in the opening round.
He quickly began to dominate the ring and boxed wonderfully, controlling the Welsh fighter with long accurate jabs and crisp hurtful combinations. Round one clearly to Barnes.
The Welshman had to come up with something different to knock Barnes out of his rhythm in round two. He drew on his vast experience and tried several different styles to get at his opponent.
This was where the hours of work put in by Barnes and coach Gibby Turnbull really paid off. Everything the Welsh champ threw his way he had an answer for and won round two.
In the closing rounds, Barnes really went through his gears and confirmed why he is a must in the Scotland squad.
The referee was keeping a close eye on proceedings and several times was on the verge of stepping in to stop the contest in Barnes’s favour.
The convincing win took Barnes to the final where he faced English and three time British champion L Richards.
The opening rounds of the final were very tight with both talented lads pushing each other to their limits.
Heading to the final round, the score cards were very level with the British title there for either lad, both looking worthy of it. On the score cards the Englishman just nicked it with a fine display in the final round.
Barnes would like to thank Alloa’s head coach Gibby Turnbull for getting him fit for the championships and his vast knowledge of fighting tactics that took him to his well earned silver medal.
With the new facilities available at Alloa’s No Messin' gym, and a year to further his experience with the Scotland squad, Joshua stated, “It will be gold next year!"
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