Thomas O'Reilly: Sparta star shows his class again to take home Scotland's only gold at tournament

O’Reilly, 14, who was recently won the Junior Golden Gloves back home, was one of five selected by Boxing Scotland to travel and compete at the coveted European event.

Out of the group, O’Reilly was the only Scot to bring back home the top prize despite a strong showing from the contingent.

He beat Italy’s Marco Rossito via unanimous decision to win his fourth contest in four days at the tournament.

It was a mature performance from the 2022 European Schools Silver medallist, who was unfortunate to have to settle for a Bronze medal at the GB Junior Championships last weekend.

Sparta’s O’Reilly started the tournament with a bang by forcing his opponent, Hungary’s Halil Ninaj, to retire after the second round of their 52kg Round of 16 bout, after his fast combinations forced a standing count in each of the opening two rounds.

In the quarter finals, he then beat his second opponent from Hungary with a right-hand forcing Alex Racz to take a standing count in the third round, before a follow up combination forced the referee to stop the contest.

In the semi-final, Thomas boxed the Italian champion, Antonio Vacca, and won a 4-1 split decision in what was a cagey affair.

The final was a superb showing, with the district ace demolishing his opponent, Rossito, who is Italy’s number two at that weight and age level.

Head coach and owner of Sparta, Sam McLeod, said Thomas’ showings were of the highest quality.

"The guys he faced are no mugs,” he explained. “The European guys are right up at the top level now and they are taking over the Americans for sure. To win his category is a real achievement.”

“He defeated the Italian number two in the final by simply dominating it from start to finish, that tells you something. His variety is so strong and he is just a lovely kid too who wants to be better and improve.

"The international experience is key for him right now with the European Championships coming up next month in Romania and this was the perfect set-up for him.

“He is going up against the best boxing nations and coming out on top.”

O’Reilly was also recently presented with a special recognition award from the club for his exploits in the ring.

McLeod added: “He will be in the next generation Boxing Scotland group come January, which is brilliant. He has won four Scottish titles and has 32 wins from 38 fights. The award is so deserved.”

Grangemouth-based Sparta also hosted their home show on Saturday, with the event packing out Bo’ness Town Hall.

“We had our fourth home show of the season and it was another big success,” McLeod said. “I have to thank everyone who made it happen.

“We had 13 fights with nine of them competitive bouts. We had five wins out of the nine which is great for the club, the ones who lost out were all close matches too.

“It was highly competitive and everyone enjoyed it.”

On the night, the club’s other award winners were: Junior boxer of the year - Aaron Napier; Senior boxer of the year - Sean Southall; Most Improved Junior Boxer - Evan Bell; Most Improved Senior Boxer - Kamil Brojak.