Tignan Stout has been one of the best performers in British boxing this year.

The amateur from Sheffield reached the finals of the World Boxing Championships in the 85kg category and is aiming to compete at the Los Angeles Olympics.

A world championship silver medal propelled Stout into the quarterfinals. Some of the best boxers to emerge from Britain in the past 20 years – future Olympic medalists and professional champions – first won world silver.

“There was David Haye in 2001, Luke Campbell in 2011, Anthony Joshua in 2011 and Pat McCormack in 2019,” Stott told reporters. sky sports.

“I already believed before Worlds that I was going to keep doing these things no matter what. It really solidified in my mind that I was right. My ambition was that I wanted to do the same things as everyone else.

“I want to go to the Commonwealth, I want to go to the Olympics. Not only do I want to go, I want to win a gold medal in every competition I compete in.

“Going forward, I want to completely take over the boxing world. I want to be the new face of boxing.”

The World Championships in Liverpool proved to be a great showcase for Stout. He celebrated his 22nd birthday by winning his first game at Worlds.

He then defeated Bulgaria’s Semyon Bordilev in the quarter-finals, forcing a second-round stoppage. Stout defeated Ukrainian Danylo Zhasan in the semifinals.

“In the quarterfinals, I stopped this kid, and in the semifinals, I knocked him out with a punch that the referee said was to the head, but if you look back, there was no head fight,” Stout recalled. “Let your hands release with good timing, good precision and natural power behind them.

“All these fights you’re constantly learning,” he added. “The main things I would say about my style are that it’s effortless, punchy, skilled and fun.”

He lost in the world finals to the ferocious Uzbek Akmayon Isroilov. “I never turn down a fight with anyone! That might hinder me a little in the final. Maybe I should box smarter. But I won’t turn down a fight with a kid,” Stout reflected.

“I’ll do things differently next time, but I’m ready to fight in the world finals.”

His goal now is to compete in the Olympics and he will lift from 85kg to 90kg to achieve this goal.

“That’s the focus,” he said. “The plan is to take a natural way of moving up. As you saw at the World Championships, I weighed 85kg. Even though they were taller, I still looked like a big guy and I had the strength, so I could definitely control myself when it came time to move up.

“There’s a lot of talent in the British squad across all weight classes. So you have to have confidence in yourself, confidence in your ability that you’re going to get that spot and it’s not easy.

“There’s an old saying, iron sharpens iron. So when you train with other good fighters, it just pushes you forward.”

Team GB wins three European gold medals

The British boxing team completed their year with success at the European Under-23 Championships in Budapest this month.

Super heavyweight Damar Thomas, light heavyweight Bobby Wallace and welterweight Kayla Allen all won gold. They were among six British medalists, including flyweight Kelsey Oakley and bantamweight Isaac Burton in silver, as well as middleweight bronze in Mary Kate Smith.

Rob McCracken, Performance Director at British Boxing, said: “The team boxed well and it was a very positive end to a great year for British Boxing. The boxers had a really good experience over a number of events and winning so many medals is a well-deserved reward for their hard work. There were a lot of great performances and to be honest I feel it’s unfortunate that some of them didn’t get a gold medal.”

“This shows us that we have some good talent at all levels in the academy and podium teams, which bodes well for the future.”