Double success for Top Yard teenager at the Bristol Box Cup

Burton not only won the competitive 62kg category he was named ‘best male boxer’ at the event.

Teenager Burton was up against Tony Kelbie from Jenning ABC in Lancashire in the semi-final. The city lad took his time to figure out Kelbie’s game plan which was to rush him, but Burton is a slick mover and this paid dividends.

The Top Yard star used his range to counter Kelbie and picked off his opponent in the first two rounds.

In the third round Burton stepped up the pace and dominated on the front foot with two and three-punch combinations to book his place in the final with a unanimous points win.

In the final Burton boxed Staffordshire’s Alfie Gibbons from Trojan Boxing Academy. Gibbons, who had shown he was a big puncher in his semi-final victory, was bound to be a tough opponent so Burton had to out-skill him.

As expected, Gibbons came out aggressively and landed some big shots, but Burton, who has a great boxing IQ, used his footwork and movement well enough to get the counter shots off to nick the first round.

The second round saw Burton use a perfect jab to consistently score with headshots and his two-punch combinations were also effective. The third round saw a confident Burton put some great combinations together making it easy for the judges to score and give him a second unanimous points win.

There was also success for Leo Close (16) and Tarley Webb (15) who boxed in the Midlands Box Cup winning a silver medal apiece.

After very good performances in their semi-finals they both narrowly missed out in the final. This was their first Box Cup competition and they showed plenty of promise despite their inexperience.