EVEN women from the GB Boxing squad have been selected to compete at the forthcoming AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in Ulan-Ude, Russia (3 – 13 October 2019).
The group includes 2018 World Championship bronze medallist, Lauren Price, and the three boxers who won medals at the recent European Championships in Madrid, Karris Artingstall and Demi-Jade Resztan, who took silver, and Rosie Eccles, who came away with a bronze.
They are joined by 2018 Commonwealth Games medallists, Sandy Ryan and Paige Murney, and Tori Ellis Willets, who will be competing in her second major tournament following a promising debut at the recent European Championships.
Welsh middleweight, Price, is looking to continue a run of form that has seen her win a medal in every major tournament she has taken part in over the last 18 months.
She took gold at both the Commonwealth Games in April 2018 and her most recent outing at the European Games in Minsk in June of this year. In between these she won bronze at both the 2018 European and World Championships and rose to number three in the AIBA world rankings.
She did not take part in the recent European Championships so she could focus her preparations on the World Championships.
Price said: “Winning the European Games earlier this year was a really big achievement, particularly as I defeated the boxer that had beaten me in the World Championships semi-final last year. I took a lot of confidence from that win and I am now looking to take that into this year’s World Championships.
“Not going to the European Championships has given me a good break and a chance to work on a few things in the gym. I am ready to go again now and looking forward to getting back in the ring again and putting in a strong performance ahead of the Olympic qualifying campaign which starts next year.”
Two boxers who produced career best performances at the recent European Championships are Kariss Artingstall and Demi-Jade Resztan who both returned from Spain with silver medals.
Although Resztan will compete in the non-Olympic light-flyweight (48kg) category in Russia, her performance in Madrid has secured her promotion to the GB Boxing squad where she is now part of the Women’s Development Programme, with a view to contending for the flyweight (51kg) slot which is an Olympic weight class.
Artingstall boxes in the Olympic featherweight (57kg) category and is heading to Russia buoyed by the confidence of winning her first medal at a major tournament.
She said: “I competed against some much more experienced boxers at Europeans but did not feel out of place against any of them and going on to win a silver medal has given me a really big boost. The Worlds is a step-up but I feel like I am boxing really well and am looking forward to getting out there and showing what I can do.”
The seven women squad is made-up of five boxers from England and two from Wales and they will compete at the tournament in their home nation vests. The full line-up is:
| Boxer | Weight Class | Country | Club (Hometown) |
| Demi Jade Resztan | 48kg | England | New Astley Boxing Club (Cambridge) |
| Tori Ellis Willets | 51kg | England | Army (Nuneaton) |
| Karris Artingstall | 57kg | England | Army (Macclesfield) |
| Paige Murney | 60kg | England | Leicester Unity (Leicester) |
| Rosie Eccles | 69kg | Wales | Pontypool Boxing Club (Cardiff) |
| Sandy Ryan | 69kg | England | One Nation Pegasus ABC (Derby) |
| Lauren Price | 75kg | Wales | Pontypool Boxing Club (Cardiff) |