JAMES Probert was the youngest participant in the whole competition as part of the four-man Welsh team to travel to Lviv in the Ukraine for the recent European Junior Boxing Championships but once again he showed what a talented youngster he is when he won a bronze medal after just losing out in the semi-final to the eventual winner.

Still only 14 years old, James was competing against boxers from all over Europe in the prestigious seven-day competition who were almost 16, but he showed real composure and skill to gain a unanimous points’ verdict over Ignazio Livio (Italy) in the early rounds.

This was followed by a tremendous split decision in the quarter-finals against the title favourite Arman Galtsan of Armenia, a very powerful opponent who tried to make his greater physical presence tell but found it hard to pin James down as he outboxed the Armenian champion.

Cosmin Girlenau of Romania was James’ opponent in the semi-final and edged through on the narrowest of points win but whilst all these opponents were in their final year in this age group James can hopefully return next year as one of the older competitors.

As the only medallist in the Welsh team, James has now been called into the training squad with a view to selection for the World Junior Championships in St Petersburg, Russia, and as reward for his total commitment has been called up for a GB training camp where top amateur boxers like Fred Evans and Andrew Selby will be training alongside the junior squad in preparation for taking part in the next Commonwealth Games.

James is also training hard at Pembroke ABC under the watchful eye of dad Nathan and Andy Edmundson and has recently been travelling to Swansea for extra work. It all demands total family commitment and a lot of expense but James’ parents, Nathan and Rachel, are totally supportive and were in the Ukraine to cheer Probert junior on throughout the competition.

Sponsorship from a company or boxing supporter would be a great help but in the meanwhile James Probert will continue to fly the Pembrokeshire amateur boxing flag all over the world!