WELSH star Lauren Price and Nouchka Fontijn have a rivalry that spans European, World and now Bocskai finals. In Hungary on Friday (February 12) the Netherlands’ Fontijn scored a split decision revenge win over Price, who had beaten her (after a scoring recount) at the last World championships in Russia in 2019. It will be interesting to see their series continue at the upcoming European Olympic qualification event once it is rescheduled.
While Price had to settle for a silver medal in Debrecen, three of her GB team mates did secure gold medals.
Frazer Clarke, after a brace of wins, took victory in the super-heavyweight final by walkover. “I have had so many ups and downs in the last 18 months and to finally be back in the ring, doing what I do, has been brilliant. It has really brought the love back,” Frazer said. “The whole thing has been a great experience and it has made me realise how much I missed every aspect of going away to tournaments and competing. Training and sparring is great, but you cannot beat competing and I think this has been a really beneficial week for me and all of team.
“I worked really hard on my fitness to get here and the competition has been excellent. I have faced two southpaws which is great preparation for me because my next opponent in the Olympic qualifier is one.
“I think I have boxed pretty well. I know the areas where I have to improve and I feel like I am only going to get better now I have got some competitive action under my belt.
“It has been a great trip and the team has performed really well. We’ve had a really nice mix of young up-and-coming members of the squad and some of the older, experienced heads and the atmosphere has been excellent. The coaches have been brilliant as always and have made sure we are well prepared which shows in the results we have achieved.”
New welterweight Harvey Lambert beat Israel’s rough Miroslav Kapuler Ischelenko in the 69kgs final. Lambert outboxed, outfoxed and frustrated Ischelenko, who got away with throwing a blatant elbow into Lambert’s head with only a point deduction. The decision was split but Lambert deservedly won.
Lewis Richardson continued his preparations for the European qualifier, when it eventually resumes. He did well to win the gold medal at 75kgs, outscoring Croatia’s Jezek Noa to win their final.
“Five fights in five days is a tough ask and today was pretty heavy going but I managed to grind my way through. It’s an amazing feeling to win,” Lewis said. “I was in great shape coming into this tournament and despite a gruelling schedule my body has held-up well, which is thanks to the team at GB Boxing who are so good at preparing us. It has been a long time since a lot of us boxed so this has been a great trip. There is a lot positivity in the camp and the performances this week have put us in a good place for when the Tokyo qualifier re-starts later this year.”