Stalker eyes golden finale

Tom Stalker is confident he can complete his remarkable journey in the amateur boxing ranks this summer and "open doors" to a professional future.

The light-welterweight from Liverpool took up the sport relatively late at the age of 17 after turning his back on a life of petty crime and only had his first fight two years later, but since then he's gone on to win a medal at every major championships except the Olympics.

Now 27, Stalker will head to London 2012 bidding to become the first British boxer to complete the set having sealed his place at the Games with a bronze at last year's World Championships in Baku.

The Salisbury ABC boxer, who is trained by Rob McCraken with the rest of the Great Britain podium squad at Sheffield's English Institute of Sport, is ranked world number one in his division and expectations are high for him to claim gold.

But Stalker said: "I haven't really dealt with much pressure yet because it hasn't hit me yet, several months away from the Games. I know a lot of people think I'm going to win gold but anyone who knows anything about amateur boxing will know how hard it is to go all the way.

"I've medalled in every big event and if I get one at the Olympics I think I'll become the first British boxer to win one at all the major championships, so it will be a great achievement if I do it, fingers crossed. But anything can happen in boxing - I've just got to take each fight as it comes.

"I'm going to box to the best of my ability and hopefully come July I'll be on good form."

Stalker has tasted Commonwealth and European glory in previous years and insists he will once again be aiming for the top in London.

"I'm going in for it just for gold," he added.

"I've never been brought up to settle for anything less than winning and basically aiming at gold. I'll go to the Olympics in full belief in myself that I can win the gold and fingers crossed that will come true for me."

Despite remaining focused on his Olympic build-up, Stalker admits he would consider switching to the professional ranks after the Games, but knows he must to impress in order to get the best opportunities in the future.

Options

He said: "Obviously I know if I win any medal it will open a lot of doors for me in the future, so that's why everything I do in my life now is geared towards the Olympics.

"This year I won't be having a drink, socialising or anything like that. My mind is just on the Olympics.

"I'd love to be in the professional game but I'll need to sit down with GB boxing and basically see what they want to do with me and what I want to do with myself after the Olympics.

"I've been on the GB team now for five years and been away from my family. There's some great fighters coming through so I'm thinking whether it would be right for me to find another route and let the new kids experience the next Commonwealth Games, European and World Championships.

"At the moment my mind is fully on London 2012 and I don't really want to look past it.

"The Olympics is the pinnacle of amateur boxing - you just can't get any bigger. For me just to get there and represent my country is an honour."

Stalker is a close friend of Liverpudlian professional boxers Tony Bellew, Stephen Smith and David Price, who won bronze at the previous Olympics, and accepts there are pros and cons to weigh up before leaving the amateur scene.

He said: "A lot of my best friends are professionals like Tony Bellew, David Price and Stephen Smith. Basically they say it's great to be at home and be able to see your family a lot more. But you miss the side of having the crack with the lads on the GB team, which is also like a big family.

"As for the actual boxing, there's obviously a lot more rounds in professional boxing but at the level we're at in amateur boxing, we are at the top of the tree."

Back in January Stalker enjoyed a training session with Ricky Hatton in Manchester but doesn't think it would be wise to mix too much with the stars this year.

He said: "I went down and loved it - Ricky Hatton is one of my idols in boxing and the stuff he was showing me was brilliant and can make me a better fighter. I couldn't believe I was getting trained by him to be honest.

"I've got a lot of respect for Ricky but all I need to do now is basically keep my feet on the ground and stay with Rob McCracken and the GB team and stick with them until the Olympics.

"If I go to professional gyms it can turn your head a little so I need to stick with my amateur people."