Commonwealth Games 2022: Reese Lynch on Josh Taylor, his family & medal ambitions
- Published
Reese Lynch became the first Scot to win a medal at the senior World Amateur Boxing Championships last November, when he claimed bronze
Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games |
|---|
Hosts: Birmingham Dates: 28 July to 8 August |
Coverage: Watch live on BBC TV with extra streams on BBC iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and BBC Sport mobile app |
Plenty of Scottish boxers will have to suffer comparisons with Josh Taylor, who is only the country's second ever undisputed world champion. But with Reese Lynch, there are enough similarities there to make it inevitable.
A southpaw and a light welterweight from the east of Scotland's central belt, the 21-year-old even has the same softly-spoken conviction Taylor had when embarking on his amateur career.
The similarities give Lynch inspiration, though, rather than pressure. There is a long, arduously difficult and relentless journey to reach the heights Taylor has scaled, but the young fighter from Fauldhouse is confident in his abilities.
"There are a few things I can learn from him," Lynch says of Taylor, one of his boxing heroes.
"I've never met him but he sent me a tweet after my worlds [when he won a medal] and seems like a good guy. I'd love to meet him. I reckon I can get there too. Give me a few years and hopefully I can be up there with him."
One of the traits which any sports person needs to make it to the top is resilience. Lynch has learned that from his two older brothers. Or rather, his brothers have helped gently encourage a fighting spirit...
"They just bullied me," says a laughing Lynch, who won his last 32 bout in the light-welterweight division against Timon Aaree of Kiribati on Friday.
"They used to hang me from doors when I was a wee boy and they'd just leave me there dangling. Still, it made me who I am today and I can definitely take them now.
"They knew I had a wee bit of wire in me. I reckon they knew I could do a bit, and from there I progressed on to winning championships and getting on GB [team] as well."
Lynch's brothers, though, have done more for Reese than just the usual sibling antics. Peter, known as Ped, is his coach. He used to play for Chelsea as a youth player and even roomed with John Terry, before injuries killed his fledgling career.
He gave his little brother a job alongside him fitting kitchens as well as showing him the ropes. Tough work that demands resilience alongside an intense training schedule in the evenings.
"It was crane lifting and slinging," Lynch explains. "So moving big heavy things and putting them in small places - I enjoyed it when I was there as well. It was a good laugh, but nothing like this.
"I was lifting heavier things than that [kitchen units] with my brother Ped. It was like crane lifts and 300, 400, 500 kilos pushing them up stairs. It was a bit of extra strength and conditioning.
"My brothers always made me stick in because they knew what I was capable of. They've taught me the ropes and shaped me into who I am, along with my mum and dad."
As well as his family pushing him on, Lynch has clearly got talent. In November last year, he became the first ever Scot to get a medal at the senior World Amateur Boxing Championships, when he claimed bronze.
That earned him his place on the Great Britain team, who train in Sheffield on a full-time basis. Lynch says he's already feeling the benefits of the extra training after six months, particularly his fitness.
He doesn't shy away from the fact he is targeting Commonwealth gold - just like Taylor managed in 2014 - and then hopefully a podium in Paris at the 2024 Olympics.
Nor does he retreat when it comes to analysing his shortcomings. "I just need to stop getting hit," is his frank assessment after missing out on a medal at the recent European Championships in Armenia.
Regardless of what happens in Birmingham, it won't be the last you hear from Lynch.
"When I first started, I never thought I would get this far," he says. "Especially in schoolboys, I was losing fights to some people. But I just stuck in. I knew if I just stuck in I'd get the decisions, but I never thought I'd ever make it here.
"I know I've got a bit of talent so sticking at it and thinking about your future and where you could be in the next few years keeps you grounded."
What grounds Lynch, though, is family. The clan will be there in force to will him on at the Games.
"They'll be in Birmingham. My brother Dean was saying if he can't get a room he'll just take a van and sleep in that. Maybe I could sneak them into the village..."
George Michael's Desert Island Discs revisited: In a rare interview, the late singer discussed music, loss and regaining confidence
From boy to man to prime minister: Boris Johnson's life and career explored by people who have known him
