Sky Academy Sports Scholarships: Jack Bateson refuses to accept second best

It’s great to be back in full time training and competing after a short break over the summer.

The last few weeks I have been very busy. I boxed in Sheffield against France in a dual match on a Sports Aid charity show and then boxed in the famous Tammer Tournament in Tampere, Finland.

Dual match vs France

It was great to be back in the ring especially so close to home for once, in Sheffield. It’s not often we get to compete close to home because most of the tournaments we attend are held in Eastern Europe, Asia and other foreign countries who are big on boxing.

I expect to win every fight I go in for and my pride takes a hit when my hand isn't raised

I boxed against an experienced opponent from France called Elie Konki. I had seen him box at many tournaments in the past and we were on the opposite side of the draw just one month before at the EU Championships in Bulgaria. He went on to win the silver medal, losing out to Alexandr Riscan from Moldova. Riscan had beaten me in the quarter-finals on his way to winning gold.

I lost out to Elie by a controversial split decision. Three of the five judges had me winning the contest, but the computer randomly selects just three judges to calculate the decision. This means that two judges' scores are not used and effectively don't exist. The two judges that had me losing the bout were selected at random and only one of those who had me winning.

Although this was just a dual match and a warm up contest for tournaments that lie ahead, I was devastated to lose as I always am. I expect to win every fight I go in for and my pride takes a hit when my hand isn't raised.

Tammer Tournament

I went to the Tammer Tournament two years ago as a light-flyweight and won a silver medal in what was my first ever international senior competition. I travelled to Finland this time hoping to go one better in my new weight class as a flyweight.

In the quarter-finals I was drawn against last year’s gold medallist, Dodji Ayigah of Belgium. He was a tall, awkward opponent who boxed in the southpaw stance at long range. In what was a good fight I came out on top after a split decision to advance to the next round.

In the semi-finals I came across the Thai representative Yuttapong Tongdee who had a walkover in the previous round and was coming in relatively fresh. He was a very strong opponent who came forward no matter what I threw at him. I stuck to my boxing, it was a very entertaining fight and I won by unanimous decision to go forward to the final.

The final was a very important contest for me and I felt I had a point to prove. I was up against Scotland’s Reece McFadden who won a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games earlier this year. He had already beaten Andrew Selby and a previous opponent of mine in Charlie Edwards so a win over Reece would have been a great scalp for me and was something I expected.

It was a very cagey final and there weren’t many exchanges or punches thrown. I was set clear tactics to beat Reece and my coaches and I felt they were working so I didn't feel I had to change anything as the bout went on. After a good first and second round I felt I was up and it would take a very bad final round for me to lose.

The final round was cagey once again with neither of us wanting to make any mistakes and pay for it by being countered. When the final bell sounded we both raised our hands and my coaches and I were confident of taking home the gold in a close decision.

I lost by a unanimous decision with only one of the judges giving me a round. My first thoughts were that the scores were terribly biased and after watching the fight over and over again since arriving home I still can't get my head around it.

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Reece is a nice kid and we had a chat afterwards, we talked about how the fight was close and he told me he wouldn't have argued if the decision had gone my way. Fair play to him, he's a good sportsman and congratulations to him on the gold medal.

Coming away from Finland with the silver medal I was not happy, but I won't be happy unless I come home with the gold. With hard work and dedication I honestly believe my time will come and although I haven't been very lucky with decisions recently, I'm hoping this will change.

Rob McCracken, the head coach at GB Boxing, has had a chat with me over the phone since I arrived back home and he said, "it doesn't always work like this in boxing, your luck will change Jack." We laughed and I said "I hope so."

Before Christmas and the New Year I am hoping to compete in more tournaments and gain as much experience as possible before the Olympic qualifying tournaments which begin next year.

For updates on my training, tournaments and results, follow me on Twitter: @jackbateson94.