Mne George Crotty is crowned Light-Heavyweight Champion in Poland

George earned himself a gold medal representing Great Britain at the Leszek Boxing Tournament at the weekend.

The last of the team to fight on Saturday, George put in an exciting performance to earn GB’s third and final gold medal of the tournament. 

Having beaten Patryk Gruch and Klemens Szczepaniak on the way, George beat the reigning European Champion, Gabriel Dossen of Ireland, via split decision in his final fight to become the new light-heavyweight champion. 

George said of his fight with Klemens, “The game plan was to hit and move as we knew my hands and feet would be quicker than him and make him look slow. The fight went much better than expected, and I won 30-27 on all three scorecards with a dominant performance.”

The semi-final fight was against Patryk Gruch, and George said, “I remember going into the fight confident as usually, my first fight is my worst performance in a competition, but I felt really good in my first, and we had the same tactics for this fight. 

‘Got out to a swift start, gave him a stand 8 count in the first, and felt in control. Knocking my opponent down in the second and third round to win 30-25 on all three scorecards.”

The highly anticipated final fight for the Royal Marine was against last year’s European Champion. George commented, “We have known each other for a long time but never boxed each other. We both have similar styles, both southpaws and counterpunchers.

‘I knew it would be a tactical and highly skilled fight, and it was from the first bell.

‘It was a close first round that could have gone either way, but the judges favoured his work, and he won the first round 2-1. In the second round, I changed tactics and went on the back foot and let him come towards me, fall short, and then punish him. It was another close round, but I was confident walking back to the corner after the second that I had done enough to win the round, and I did 2-1. 

‘All square going into the last round, and I could sense I was more up for it than him. 30 seconds into the last round, I caught him with a 5/6 punch combination with the ref stepping in and giving him a standing 8 count. I knew if I stayed disciplined for the rest of the round, I would win the fight, and I did that.”

Team GB’s squad of nine all returned home with medals, with serving Royal Marine George one of three to take home gold.