ANTHONY JOHNSTON insists he won’t run out of gas if he makes it to the latter stages of the AIBA Junior World Boxing Championships next week – and has set his sights on returning from Russia with a gold medal around his neck.
The Gleann middleweight sprung a major surprise at his first major international event back in May when he ousted the home favourite, Ukraine’s Yevheni Pavlowskyi, en route to a bronze medal at the Junior European Championships. By the time the semi-final came around, though, the exertions of the previous few days had taken their toll.
“I got beat fair and square,” he says of his split decision defeat to Germany’s Oronzo Birardi in Lviv.
“I just didn’t turn up. I had a hard fight against the Ukrainian in the quarter-final and that must have taken a lot out of me. In the last round [against Birardi], I was feeling it big time.”
With last week’s tough training camp in Dublin under his belt, the 16-year-old doesn’t believe fitness will be an issue in St Petersburg, where the action gets under way later this week.
He continued: “I’m confident this time I’ll be able to go through the whole tournament without feeling tired. We had a good, tough week down in Dublin working with Billy [McClean], Dimar [Dmitrov] and Fergal [McKenna].
“I’m flying fit at the minute and I just can’t wait to get out there and represent my country. It was a proud moment out in the Ukraine and I’m sure this will be too. Not everybody gets this chance, I feel very lucky, so I just want to go out and enjoy the experience.”
Johnston, whose father Gerard won a host of titles while boxing for the Clonard and Immaculata clubs, comes from strong boxing stock. However, in relative terms, he has come to the sport late, having first laced up gloves just over three years ago. When you consider that his Irish team-mate Aaron McKenna has been boxing since he was six, amassing almost 200 fights in a distinguished amateur career, Johnston knows he has a lot to learn.
“I was always a football player, but then I got banned for missing a tournament, so I just decided to leave and I always had an interest in boxing,” said the talented teenager.
“I just decided to try it and it’s gone from there really. I feel like I’m learning all the time and improving all the time. Winning Ulster and Irish titles has given me lots of confidence.
“I know how well I can box and, if I perform as I know I can, then I’ll do very well. I showed what I could do winning bronze last time and I think I can do even better this time.”
