Bradley Saunders (born 4 February 1986) is a British professional boxer. As an amateur, he won a silver medal in the light welterweight division at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, gold at the 2009 EU Championships and bronze at the 2007 World Championships.
Bradley Saunders | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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_Boxing_Event_Bradley_Saunders_of_England_(Silver).jpg) XIX Commonwealth Games-2010 Delhi Winners of Light Welter Weight (64 kg) Boxing Event where Bradley Saunders won Silver | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 4 February 1986[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | British | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight(s) | Light welterweight Welterweight | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 178 cm (5 ft 10 in)[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stance | Orthodox | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Boxing record | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total fights | 14 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wins | 13 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wins by KO | 10 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Losses | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Amateur career
editSaunders won the British championships in 2006 whilst representing South Durham ABC.[citation needed]. He qualified for the 2007 World championships held in Chicago and won a bronze medal defeating the likes of local favourite Javier Molina(24:12) and Frenchman Alexis Vastine in order to join compatriots Frankie Gavin and bantam Joe Murray on the medal podiums and, in doing so, qualifying for the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
In the Olympic tournament Saunders' first round victory was followed with defeat in the second round to former victim Alexis Vastine.[2] Following the tournament Saunders made the decision to stay amateur whilst a number of his Team GB colleagues made the move to the professional boxing ranks.
In June 2009 Saunders returned to the ring to compete in the European Union championships held in Odense, winning gold and beating a fellow former World Championship bronze medallist Gyula Kate of Hungary along the way.[3][4]
Just prior to the 2009 World Championships due to be held in Milan, Saunders broke his left thumb in a training bout. A potential winner of gold at the event Saunders reflected on the injury by saying "I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason...I'm going to focus totally on 2012. Maybe then I'll look back and be glad this all happened".[5]
World Amateur Championships
edit- Defeated Boris Katalinic (Croatia) 23-12
- Defeated Gumersindo Carrasco (Argentina) RSCO
- Defeated Javier Molina (United States) 24-12
- Defeated Alexis Vastine (France) 30-13
- Lost to Gennady Kovalev (Russia) 8-16
Commonwealth Games 2010
edit- Defeated Anthony Taylor (New Zealand)
- Defeated Yves Ulysse (Canada) in the quarters
- Defeated Louis Colin of (Mauritius) in a close scoring semifinal 10-7
- Lost to Manoj Kumar of (India) in the final 2-11
Olympic Games
edit- Defeated Samuel Kotey Neequaye (Ghana) KO 1 (2:24)
- Lost to Alexis Vastine (France) 11-7
Professional career
editSaunders signed his first professional contract with Frank Warren and made his professional boxing debut on 10 February 2012 against Jason Nesbitt scoring a TKO victory in the 3rd round.
Professional boxing record
edit
Personal life
editOn 25 November 2008 Saunders was questioned by police on suspicion of dealing cocaine after a police sniffer dog found what was alleged to be £12,000 worth of the drug in his back garden.[7] The charges were dropped against the boxer in April 2009 when the police decided not to proceed with the case.[8]
References
edit- ^ a b c "Bradley Saunders". teamgb.com. British Olympic Association. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
- ^ BBC Sport | Mixed results for boxers in Beijing
- ^ BBC Sport | England's amateurs shine at Euros
- ^ BBC Sport | Saunders makes winning comeback
- ^ BBC Sport | Injured Saunders to miss Worlds
- ^ "Bradley Saunders - Boxer". Boxrec.com. Retrieved 6 September 2011.
- ^ BBC News | Olympic boxer in cocaine arrest
- ^ BBC News | No charges for Olympic boxer
External links
edit- Official website
- Boxing record for Bradley Saunders from BoxRec (registration required)