British super-heavyweight Joe Joyce claims gold at European Games
Saturday 27 June 2015 09:15, UK
British super-heavyweight Joe Joyce has claimed gold at the inaugural European Games in Baku.
The 29-year-old won gold at last year's Commonwealth Games and has added the European Games crown to his collection with a points victory over Gasan Gimbatov.
Russia's Gimbatov began well and took the first round with some neat work, but Joyce came on strong for the rest of the fight and began piercing his opponent's guard with some sharp jabs.
Heavy rights from Joyce landed in the closing stages of the fight with one hook particularly eye-catching in sending Gimbatov backwards, although the Russian fought on gamely and continued throwing big shots of his own until the final bell.
There was a thrilling celebration from the Londoner upon being awarded the victory, finding the spring in his legs to perform a backward somersault and then lapping up the applause of the crowd and embracing his trainer.
Gimbatov was unable to attend the medal ceremony as he was taken to hospital for scans after he was struck with a string of powerful blows in the second round by Joyce.
"We sent the boxer to hospital No.1 for examination by a neurologist for possible head trauma and concussion," said Gunay Ibrahimov, chief medical officer at the Crystal Hall.
"The CT scans have revealed no major findings, but the boxer is being kept in hospital overnight for observation."
