LEITH VICTORIA'S Olympic hope Steve Simmons lost his qualifying bout in Pescara, Italy yesterday.
The heavyweight suffered a 13-8 points defeat to Azerbaijani Elchin Alizade, but British team boss Terry Edwards revealed that the Capital boxer's stylish performance has won him a reprieve and a final throw of the Olympic dice in Athens
in April.
Edwards revealed: "The 13-8 score against Simmons was a travesty.
"Steve was 1-1 even after the first round and on my card lost the second and third by the slimmest possible margins before taking the final round with a tremendous two-fisted rally.
"To me, this was Steve's finest hour as a British Olympic team contender.
"He boxed against a guy who had previously won a silver medal in the World Amateur Championships. Steve fought with class and conviction and the 13-8 margin in Alizade's favour was way too generous.
"The bottom line is that so good was Simmons' ring performance that I'm entering him on April 7 in the final chance to qualify for Athens where Steve will be battling for one of the last two vacant heavyweight berths for the Beijing games.
"It's the very least that he deserves after his performance in Pescara."
Simmons, meanwhile, said: ''I knew there was nothing in it after the first round. The guy had more experience than me but never really hurt me despite his reputation for knocking people over in the ring.
"I also mounted a big rally in the fourth and last round and thought I might have nicked it but at least I will now still have a chance of qualifying for China in April in the last qualifier in Athens.
"Finally, I would like to pay tribute to my coach Terry Edwards's advice between rounds – which was spot on and helped me do so well against Alizade."
The full article contains 315 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
