Achievements:
- 2021 World Championships – Bronze
In 2021 in Belgrade Reese made history when he became the first Scottish boxer ever to win a world championship medal when he took bronze in the light welterweight division. It earnt him a place in the GB Boxing squad and he officially joined the world class programme in January 2022. He soon followed up his world success by winning gold later that year at the Commonwealth Games.
Reese began boxing at the age of nine when he joined Springhill ABC after initially being taught the basics by his brother. He also played football at a young age, however in his own words, “I was terrible, and I was given a pair of gloves and told to be on my way!” and that’s how is journey in the ring began.
As a schoolboy, Reese won his first Scottish title in 2014 before later going on to seal junior and youth accolades between 2016 and 2019 which earned him a place on the Scotland Boxing squad. During this time, he also switched clubs to join Rob Roye ABC. He made an impressive step up into senior competition when he won gold at Serbia’s Golden Gloves in both 2018 and 2019.
Having secured a place in the GB Boxing squad thanks to his medal winning performance at the 2021 world championships in Belgrade, Reese made his first competitive appearance as a GB Boxer when he took part in the Boxam tournament in March 2022 where he went on to win a bronze medal. The light-welterweight followed that up a month later by claiming silver at the Gee Bee tournament in Finland.
On his way to securing his world bronze, Reese boxed three times. Beating both Iran’s Ashkan Reazaei and Spain’s Adrian Thiam Creus to secure his medal before suffering a unanimous points loss to Kerem Oezmen of Turkey in the semi-final stages.
The European Championships in Yerevan was Reese’s first major tournament as a member of the GB Boxing squad. After winning his opening preliminary bout unanimously against Turkey’s Adem Avci, he just missed out on the medal stages after losing to eventual silver medallist, Lounes Hamraoui of France.
Reese describes himself as a sharp counter puncher with fast feet and demonstrated just that when he represented his country, Scotland, at the 2022 Commonwealth Games where he won light-welterweight gold..