A bolt from the blue as Welsh boxers go for goldImage source, Team WalesImage caption, Orlando Holley-Sotomi became a British champion in 2023. ByAndrew RichardsBBC Sport WalesPublished43 minutes agoThe warning signs were there. In the opening minute of his quarter-final bout, Orlando Holley-Sotomi caught his opponent with a couple of straight right hands. At 68 seconds, he unleashed another.The thunderous shot, followed by a left hook, sent Lesotho’s Refiloe Thai to the canvas. “Watching tape of my opponent, he was open to my backhand,” the Newport boxer mentioned. “My backhand is one of my best shots so I didn’t hesitate, I just used it.”Knockouts of this brutality are rare in amateur boxing. ‘The General’ looked every bit the pro.After a tense silence when doctors rushed to his aid, Thai got to his feet to relieved applause from the gallery. When the referee lifted Orlando’s dangerous right hand in victory, it marked the end of a successful hour in Glasgow for Welsh boxing on Wednesday afternoon. Defending champion Rosie Eccles stopped Samukelisiwe Sinothile Ncube in the second round of the women’s 70kg before delaying her media duties to watch Owain Harris-Allan win unanimously on points against home favourite Nick Devlin. Eccles, Harris-Allan and Holley-Sotomi join super heavyweight Connor Williams in guaranteeing themselves a Commonwealth Games medal. In boxing, losing semi-finalists are awarded bronze medals.So Friday, 30 July will see them seek to upgrade their medal colours ahead of finals the following day. Here are the four boxers chasing gold for Wales.Rosie EcclesImage source, Team WalesImage caption, Eccles won a silver medal on the Gold Coast in 2018 before claiming gold four years later in BirminghamThe Olympian’s glittering CV already includes gold and silver Commonwealth medals but she wants the trilogy’.
The Caldicot light-middleweight, who turned 30 on the day she carried the Welsh flag at the opening ceremony in Glasgow, claims to have “more fire than ever” as she aims to repeat her gold medal in Birmingham.
After revealing she will hang up her gloves after these Games, Eccles says she is trying to keep a lid on her emotions.
“It was an amazing feeling stood waiting to walk out because the journey here has been probably one of my hardest in my career,” she mentioned.
“I’ve had to keep my performance head on and keep the emotion side of it in the box. I could be very emotional and sentimental, but it’s one fight at a time.
“We’ve done some work to get here and I’ve just got to go and execute now and hopefully make them all proud.”
Eccles fights India’s Arundhati Choudhary at 15:00 BST for a place in the gold medal bout.
