Sheffield’s Teagn Stott and Bridlington’s Emily Asquith will box for gold at World Boxing Championships tomorrow after they both secured victor in their semi-finals this evening in Liverpool.
Stott became only the fifth English male boxer in history to reach a world championship final when he defeated Ukraine’s Danylo Zhasan in their cruiserweight semi-final at the World Boxing Championships in Liverpool this evening. He joins an exclusive club which includes Anthony Joshua, Pat McCormack, Luke Campbell and Frankie Gavin, who is the only one of the group to go on and claim gold.
Boxing in front Ukraine’s legendary world heavyweight champion, Oleksandr Usyk, who is in Liverpool for the Championships, Stott started well against Usyk’s compatriot and used his fast jab and some heavy backhands to build up a healthy lead in the first two rounds. And though Zhasan rallied in the third, it was not enough to disrupt Stott who managed the fight skilfully to earn a 4-1 victory and set-up a final tomorrow with Uzbekistan’s Akmaijon Isroiliv.
Stott said: “I’m over the moon. I’m absolutely buzzing. Warming up today and seeing the unlucky decisions go against my teammates , I thought ‘wow, we’re not getting anyone to the final!’ but I stuck to the game plan. Got through the bout. Managed the last round. Got the job done and ready to move on to tomorrow.
“It’d mean everything to become the second man from England to become a world champion. I know that’s the common answer but genuinely, it would. I can’t put into words what it’d mean to be the second man to do it, but I genuinely do think I’m going to get there tomorrow.
“I’m absolutely over the moon, with every single person that came out today. They were absolutely screaming Yorkshire! Yorkshire! I loved it. You know, that meant so much to see everyone in the crowd and they really helped push me on.”
Stott will be joined in finals action tomorrow by Bridlington’s Emily Asquith who, representing England Boxing’s Performance Pathway senior squad, earned a split decision victory over India’s Pooja Rani to reach the light-heavyweight final meaning she too is guaranteed a silver medal at least ahead of her matchup with Eseta Flint of Australia.
Elsewhere, it was a disappointing night for England’s two other semi-finalists, Odel Kamara and Chantelle Reid, who both started their light-middleweight semi-finals brightly, only to find themselves on the wrong end of split decision defeats to opponents from Kazakhstan.
They both end the tournament with bronze medals, along with Liverpool’s Callum Makin, who exited the tournament in yesterday after losing his middleweight semi-final.
The boxers’ exploits this week in Liverpool mean that England is guaranteed five medals at WBC2025. The final colour of the medals will be determined in tomorrow’s final two sessions which get underway at 12:00 and 18:00.
