Bates takes bronze in Chemistry Cup
GEORGE Bates returned home from the 45th Men’s Chemistry Cup in Halle, Germany with a bronze medal.
The St Mary’s BC lightweight made it as far as the semi finals where he was beaten by the much decorated Jorge Estrada-Alvarez of Cuba.
George Bates
The recently crowned National Elite champion made a very impressive start to his campaign, beating Germany’s own Artur Bril 4-1 in the Last 16.
“It’s great to get a win over a boxer from the home nation” St Mary’s BC Head Coach Noel Burke pointed out.
“It’s very hard to do that and Artur Bril has been the golden boy of German boxing for a long time now,” he added.
That win was followed up with another one, this time against Canada’s Lucas Bandi, the bout being brought to an early close in the first round.
“His fight against Lucas Bandi was stopped in the first round and then it goes back on points, and George was ahead at the time. He was very comfortable anyway,” explained Burke.
Gritty performance
That win set him up for a semi final clash with Alvarez, but his run ended there despite a very gritty performance by the Tallaght man.
“Alverez is a three-time World champion and two-time Olympic medallist, so he’s a big name but Geogre boxed really well,” said Burke.
“Of course you would like to have your hand raised, but it was an excellent performance by him.
“George is very comfortable boxing at this level, but he’s an electrician by trade so he’s only boxing part-time and coming up against these boxers who are all full-time,” he said.
On another note, St Mary’s will be turning their attention to this weekend’s Monkstown Box Cup in which they will field 10 members.
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