Success in Skopje made the travel back home all the sweeter for hard-working boxer Luke Bibby.
The Perth Railway Boxing Club member added another title to his CV by winning gold over the weekend at the 51st Golden Gong Tournament in North Macedonia.
Bibby, representing Scotland, had defeated Eritrea’s Haben Zere in the semi-final before being handed a walkover in the 63.5kg showdown due to his home-based opponent withdrawing.
“My opponent pulled out and that isn’t my fault,” Bibby said. “You can only control what you can control.
“For the whole training camp I was flying in the gym and I knew it was my time.
“Before going away everyone I spoke to knew I had the confidence to go and do the job. I never thought about losing.
“Regardless of what happened with the final, I always felt it was going to be the gold medal.
“I got a good win in the semi-final and it was a good performance too. I was really happy with it. I boxed my game, my fight and controlled every aspect of it.”
Bibby, who was recently named star boxer while representing Scotland against the British Army Boxing team in Catterick, admits winning on the continent is always extra special.
He explained to the PA: “My performance at the recent army event - where I got boxer of the night - set me up perfectly for the trip away.”
And he continued: “Winning international is different, is a higher level and just feels amazing, especially doing it in another country.
“It makes the travelling back a lot less stressful knowing that you’ve got the job done.
“The support I’ve had has again been amazing. Everyone gets behind me and I can’t thank them all enough.”
The hard work does not stop for Bibby and he is already looking forward to getting back into the gym.
He said: “It is my second gold this year so it has been a good one but I’ll just keep ticking over in the gym, stay fit over Christmas and attack 2023.
“I definitely want to go pro but right now I’m picking up so much experience travelling the world fighting for my country.”
