BOXER Chantel Whiting of Tavistock travelled to Scotland earlier this month with the England squad to compete in the Three Nations Championships.

She weighed in at weight 50kg and was drawn was against a Scottish girl, seeded as number two in Europe. As the under dog, Chantel did not expect to win and proved everyone wrong by getting in the ring and doing herself and country proud by dominating the rounds with her superior work rate, and footwork speed.

In the second round Chantel, who trains at the Intense Boxing Club, pinned her opponent to the ropes uploaded punches to the head and body.

She won the bout by an unanimous decision and moved to the finals guarantee herself a silver medal.

In the finals Chantel was up against a strong, taller Welsh boxer who has only lost once in her last 18 fights. Chantel got inside to upload her shots while the Welsh was good with a straight shot at range.

The last round saw the Welsh boxer throw a flurry of punches but Chantel adapted quickly to move in and out of range. The bout was close but Chantel nicked the 3-2 split decision and became GB Three Nation Champion British number one.

England coach Les Brooking said: ‘Chantel truly deserves this hard earned victory. It is just reward for her dedication and commitment for the sport, she is such an inspiration to other female boxers.

Chantel said that when the final bell rang she did not know whether or not she had won.

‘I don’t know what way the scoreline went, it was such a close bout but the moment of having my hand raised as the new British champion was an amazing feeling. All the early mornings and hardworking paid off to represent my country and to become British No1 is my biggest achievement so far.

Chantel thanks all the England and Intense coaches, all her sponsors and all those who supported her.

She is now straight back into her rigorous and demanding training to get ready to represent England in Russia in the European Championships.