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‘I hate losing’- Bronze doesn’t glitter like gold for ‘proud’ Amy Broadhurst

Bronze just doesn’t glitter the same way as gold in the eyes of Amy Broadhurst.

The Dealgan BC fighter claimed her first senior International medal via a third place finish in the European Women’s Championships last week.

It’s a massive achievement for the 22-year-old, one which cements her status as a world level lightweight operator, but yet the member of a  successful boxing family returns home with mixed feelings.

The Dundalk fighter defeated former world champion to claim bronze and was only denied silver and the chance to fight for gold by one, Mira Potkonen- the Finn with Irish previous having beaten Katie Taylor in the Rio Olympics and Kellie Harrington in the previous installment of Euro’s.

Still Broadhurst’s ambition going into every tournament is gold – and in that regard she isn’t smiling as bright post returning home.

“Of course the medal is a huge achievement, especially with it being my first elite Europeans but I am not satisfied with the colour, I hate losing,” she told Irish-boxing.com. 

“I suppose as an elite the medals mean a whole lot more, but I don’t think it stands out [from some of the underage success] because it’s bronze. If it was gold then it would be amazing on my record but it’s not so I will have to keep pushing until I get one. Then it will be my biggest stand out achievement.”

Whilst it didn’t play out as planned and Broadhurst wanted more precious medal she is smart enough to recognize the achievement.
The reigning Irish champion and 64kgs and a World Champion quarter-finalist notes it’s a confidence boost ahead of a very important year.
“I am extremely proud of myself not because of the medal but because of some things I overcame over the last 2 weeks. I proved I am up there with the very best in the world and more importantly I proved it too myself, it’s a massive confidence boost for me.”
Broadhurst’s boxing CV reads like no other female Irish boxers. While she hasn’t achieved on a senior level like the likes of Katie Taylor and more recently Kellie Harrington she has, benefiting from the youth structures in place at present, won a plethora of underage medals over the last seven years or so. 
Indeed, last weekend’s medal was her seventh continental one – five of which are gold.
As a result the fighter, who was this year voted Dundalk’s greatest ever sports star, was always expected to deliver senior success.  There is a degree of pressure that comes with such weighted expectations, but the young talent claims she learnt to avoid letting that effect her a long time ago.

“After my very first Europeans when I was 15 I felt pressure because it was such a big deal at the time, but adding pressure to yourself only makes things a whole lot worse,” she adds. 

“I don’t think of it anymore. I get in the ring everytime of course aiming to medal and to win. If I lose I don’t care if people start thinking ‘oh she is no good’ because I know one loss doesn’t define anything. We all lose, it’s part of boxing so I just enjoy it.”

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Equally the fighter doesn’t allow previous success go to her head.

“I am very happy with my achievements at such a young age, I would still be a baby in the sport so it excites me that I’ve achieved this at 22 and still have a long road ahead of me. I don’t actually think about it too often, 7 medals at 7 Europeans is mental though.”

Reflecting on the semi final reverse to the now well known Finn Broadhurts admits she was supervised by the eventual scoring.

The Tokyo hopeful certainly wasn’t arguing the result was surprised to read how wide some of the cards were post the 30-26,30-27,30-25,29-28,30-26 result being confirmed.

“I found it a bit odd alright,” she responds when asked about the scoring.

“All I wanted was a fair shot but when I seen the scores afterwards I was shocked. I won the first round, and they give it 4-1 against me, then we had a 50/50 2nd round where we were both landing and having our own good moments. Somebody gave it 10-8 and then the 3rd she won.

“She didn’t give me a beating she had good moments and 3 judges give it 10-8. I’m not complaining over the result because it was a close fight and she came on stronger but the scoring on cards shows a completely different fight.

“Afterward I congratulated Mira, herself and her coach said it was a good fight and a very tough fight, so if it was a very tough fight why had judges given it 10-8, it was bizarre. But it’s done now, I just wished they had judged it fair. But at the same time it was a pleasure sharing a ring with such a boxer.”

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Jonny Stapleton

Irish-boxing.com contributor for 15 years and editor for the past decade. Have been covering boxing for over 16 years and writing about sports for a living for over 20 years. Former Assistant Sports editor for the Gazette News Paper Group and former Tallaght Voice Sports Editor. Have had work published in publications around the world when working as a freelance journalist. Also co-founder of Junior Sports Media and Leinster Rugby PRO of the Year winner. email: editoririshboxing@gmail.com

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