Great Britain are guaranteed at least three medals at the European Boxing Championships in Bulgaria after Chantelle Reid, Damar Thomas, and Abdul Burton reached the semi-finals.
Reid cruised to a decisive 5-0 victory over Ireland’s Evelyn Igharo in a women’s light-middleweight contest at the Asics Arena Sports Hall in Sofia.
The 28-year-old Commonwealth Games silver medallist will face Serbia’s Milena Matovic in the semi-finals on Wednesday.
Thomas secured a win by the same margin in a men’s super-heavyweight bout against Georgia’s Nikoloz Begadze. The 21-year-old is set to take on Mahammad Abdullayev of Azerbaijan in the semi-finals.
Burton, aged 20, defeated home favourite and Olympic bronze medallist Javier Ibanez 3-2 to advance to a semi-final clash with Turkey’s Semih Gumus.
“Sometimes you have to dig in, and when things went against me, I had to get stuck in and show who I am,” Burton said.
“I am young, hungry, and here to take over.”
Lauren Mackie, Amy Broadhurst, Callum Makin, and Oladimeji Shittu are all scheduled to compete in the quarter-finals on Wednesday. However, more than half of Britain’s 15-strong squad has been eliminated.
On Tuesday, flyweight Ruby White suffered a 3-2 defeat to Turkey’s Olympic silver medallist Hatice Akbas, while Emily Asquith lost 5-0 to Ireland’s Lisa O’Rourke in a light-heavyweight bout.
In the men’s heavyweight division, Commonwealth Games champion Isaac Okoh was eliminated after a 3-0 loss to Germany’s Kevin Lebowski.
