WALES and Gwent's hopes of another Commonwealth Games boxing gold medal to follow Jamie Arthur's four years ago have been boosted by a generous cash gift.
Arthur's win in Manchester in 2002 was Wales' first boxing gold in over forty years and in Melbourne in March three more Gwent boxers will try to emulate the Cwmbran fighter.
Two, including Wales' best medal hope Mo Nasir (Matthew Edmonds the other), are members of the St. Joseph's club, Newport, where they are trained by Tony Borg.
Borg was in Nasir's corner as number two to Wales national coach Tony Williams when he won gold at the Commonwealth Championships in Scotland last summer. \ But the former professional British title contender before a road accident ended his career 14 years ago, was not scheduled to go to Melbourne.
Wales' coaches take it in turn to assist Williams and in Australia Pembroke coach Ralph Gammer will do the job.
But thanks to a £1,300 donation by Carl Sheedy of Cross Keys-based Sheedy Metals, Borg can now go the Games to be in his boxers' corners and assist their preparations.
"Carl's a great bloke who loves his boxing and to give me a cheque for £1,300 is a marvellous gesture," said Borg. "There is no way I could have gone without his generosity.
"It is a couple of thousand pounds to go, including flights, accommodation and living expenses, and hopefully a club show on February 25 at Pill Leisure Centre will make up the extra.
"It is a brilliant achievement for a small club to have two boxers in the Commonwealth Games, Matthew for the second time.
"The good thing about Tony Williams is that with me being coach to Mo and Matthew he is happy to have me in the corner because I know them better than anybody.
"Hopefully, it will improve their chances of medals but a lot is down to the draw.
"Mo had a good draw in Scotland and when he got to the final against a former world champion he performed brilliantly.
"I definitely believe Mo can follow Jamie and win another gold medal for Wales. "Mo has always been known as a lovely boxer but we have done a lot of strengthening and conditioning work and now he's bigger and stronger.
"I believe Matthew also has a medal chance. His problem is that he has been involved in numerous tournaments all around the world, including world championships, and has been so impressed by various styles that he has tried to change his.
"Matthew is a scrapper. He's as hard as nails and we are trying to get him back to what he does best, which is a box-fighter. He has to be on the front foot and pressurise people."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article