Explosive bouts in store at Scots Novice Championships

all ambitious Scottish amateur boxers with six bouts or fewer behind them head for the 2011 Scottish Novices Championships at Meadowbank this weekend.

Across Saturday and Sunday, 256 boxers from 62 clubs throughout the country will battle for novice title glory at Schoolboy, Youth and Senior level.

Leith Victoria coach Kenny Simmons is forecasting that fans will see an explosive bout should the draw match Clovenstone’s Iranian big puncher Pieyam Khosrowpour – the only Scottish team boxer to win by knockout at the Edinburgh v London show in Princes Street Gardens in September – against Serbian boxer Serg Briukhoretskyi, who works in the Serbian Consulate in the City.

Simmons said: “Briukhoretskyi is really powerful and should he and Khosrowpour clash this weekend it will be an explosive fight.”

However, both 81kg boxers could face stiff competition from Holyrood’s Brendan Morris and another Leith Victoria light heavyweight, Connor Brown, while, at middleweight, East Lothian club pair Alan Cockburn and Lee Renton will face real tests against 14 other contestants.

Meanwhile, the Holyrood club have heavyweights David Smillie and Rowan Morrison plus super-heavyweight Daniel Gollan in action while, at lightweight, Lochend’s Ian Keys and Craig Thomson face potentially stiff opposition from the other ten boxers in their division.

Biggest entry for national title glory is the Senior welterweight class, which features four Holyrood boxers – Andrew Thorburn, Woltek Oleksyk, Douglas Brighthurst and Craig Nelson – who could go head-to-head with City rivals such as Clovenstone’s Mark Brown, Tommy Dickson from Leith Victoria or Neil Kennedy from the Tranent Bronx club.

There is also a heavy local representation in the Youth and Schoolboy sections.

Boxing will start at around 1.00pm with admission possible on the door.