SCOTS ARE BOXING CLEVER

Hickey, Lazzerini and Lynch strike gold

SUPER Sunday? This was simply a knockout as Sam Hickey, Sean Lazzerini and Reese Lynch produced a bonanza of boxing golds for Scotland in Birmingham.

In doing so, they joined the illustrious rank of Scottish fighters who have reigned supreme at Commonwealth Games.

Firstly Hickey, on a split decision at middleweight over Australia’s Callum Peters. Then lightheavyweight Lazzerini, a 4-1 points winner over Taylor Bevan of Wales.

Enough time for breaths to be caught before Lynch vaulted into the ring and towards further history by the same margin. The world championship medallist trumped Louis Colin of Mauritius in the light-welterweight final with only one judge dismissing his case.

‘We were saying from the start this is a brilliant Scottish team,’ said 21-year-old Lynch, who has vowed to postpone turning pro until after the Paris 2024 Olympics. ‘We have been in the same tournaments, the same camps. I know what they have put in to get these medals.’

On a hat-trick for Scotland, he had felt the weight of expectation grow. Fuel for his fire. ‘There was a little bit of pressure on me having to win the third gold,’ he acknowledged. ‘But pressure makes diamonds, doesn’t it?’

With Matthew McHale and Tyler Jolly handed bronzes following semi-final reverses, Scotland’s crop sparkled in the ring. Only Northern Ireland, with five Sunday golds and India by a silver, finished above Scotland’s prolific punchers in the medal table. It was a ferocious counter off the ropes following an absence of triumphs in Gold Coast in 2018.

Hickey’s victory was disputed but history will not care. He became the first Dundonian to land Commonwealth boxing gold since the great Dick McTaggart in 1958 and the first Scot to be a middleweight master at the Games.

He went to war with 19-year-old Peters whose composed showings here have marked him out as one to watch. The European medallist — so often a frustrated finalist — came out swinging, landing body blows to good effect. The teen settled and responded ferociously in kind.

It was a classic. A rollercoaster ride with a twist at the end. Just one judge gave the Scot the last round but it was enough to tip the scales. Australia vanquished, Scotland celebrating.

‘That was a tough, tough fight,’ Hickey conceded.

‘I felt that, in the first two I was in control, but towards the end of the second I started to feel a bit in my legs. And that third round was tight. It was a close fight. I was tired and I needed that judge.’

He may now consider a move up to 80kg but expects to be as effective still. ‘I’d be able to box at a number of weights because of my speed,’ he said. One observer who has stood in these shoes was impressed. World champion Josh Taylor declared that Hickey has a ‘huge future ahead’.

Lazzerini, 25, plans to make sure he has one, too. His savage strength at short-range gave him a platform against Bevan. Late blows brought the judges aboard and the Glaswegian’s arm was already aloft before their verdict came.

‘I thought I won it,’ he maintained. ‘In fact, I’m sure of it. I think Taylor is a cracking fighter. He’s really strong and light on his feet and can box. He caught me a few times. They were shots that didn’t hurt but I respect the fact he can fight really well. I thought the judges got it right and I won, clearly.’

A European medallist in Armenia in May, Lazzerini can also target Paris with this additional boost to his reputation under his belt. ‘I’ve got to use that to my benefit,’ he said. ‘I have got to build on it and become what I know I can be.’

As for Lynch, he is regarded as the pick of the bunch. Like the mailman, he delivered against Colin despite a clash of heads in the third round.

‘It was my first ever cut — I nearly panicked when I first saw it,’ said the 21-year-old. ‘At first I thought it was just a head clash, which you are used to. Then you saw the blood dripping.’

Patched up, pounding away to the very last, he is all the readier for Paris in two summers’ time. But Birmingham has left its mark.

‘I have always dreamed of getting my first cut in a gold medal bout,’ he said. ‘Now I have got something to show to go with the medal.’