SOFIA — Great Britain's Abdul Burton secured a place in the European Boxing Championships final with a 4-1 victory over Turkey's Semih Gumus in the men's super-bantamweight semi-final in Sofia, Bulgaria, and will face Russia's Viacheslav Rogozin in Friday's final. The 20-year-old joins teammates Chantelle Reid and Damar Thomas, who will contest the women's light-middleweight and men's super-heavyweight finals respectively, as Britain chases three golds.
"I'm happy, it was a good performance against a tricky kid," Burton said. "I had to stay disciplined. I've really enjoyed the week, it's good to secure silver but I'm going to be pushing for gold tomorrow. It would be pretty big to do that in my first major, when I'm this young, so all eyes on that."
Burton was the only winner from three British semi-finalists on the day. Commonwealth Games silver medallist Dimeji Shittu lost 4-1 to Russia's Cheerav Ashalaev in the light-heavyweight division, while Callum Makin fell by the same 4-1 scoreline to Azerbaijan's Saidjamshid Jafarov at middleweight, with both Britons taking bronze. "He was a strong opponent, it was competitive but fair play to him," Shittu said. "He's a tough guy, big scary guy - but I'll 100% get him next time. I've still come away with a medal so I'm delighted with that. It wasn't to be today but I will learn from it and come back."
Friday's finals offer Britain the chance to convert three guaranteed medals into gold, with Burton seeking a title in his first major championship at age 20. The results build on a strong week in Sofia that has already seen Reid and Thomas book their places in gold-medal bouts, following Walsh's semi-final run and the O'Rourkes reaching European finals in Sofia earlier in the tournament.