By Keir Murray

Callum Johnson, Josh Taylor and Stephen Simmons brought home gold, silver and bronze medals respectively from the Commonwealth Games in Delhi this year.

The Scotland trio matched the achievements of Paul Shepherd, John Wilson and Joseph Townsley when the Games were held in Victoria, British Columbia, 16 years earlier.

Now a programme to develop athletes capable of surpassing those medal hauls is underway and an important element is the Bring Back Boxing Home International Series.

The events have been organised by Amateur Boxing Scotland, whose chairman, Richard Thomas, believes a key aspect of developing medal-winning fighters is to expose them to boxers outside of the nation's borders.

Speaking at the second contest in the series, held at the Time Capsule in Coatbridge on 18 December, he told BBC Scotland: "We have always had a good pedigree in amateur boxing, but the international experience has been lacking.

"The internationals are the start of addressing that and there will be tournaments abroad too.

"The premise of it is to give the younger age groups more experience at international level.

"They are starting from schoolboys then it's juniors and youths and it's about experience in the run-up to 2014."

Callum Johnson won gold for Scotland at the 2010 Commonwealth Games

The young Scots lost to their English rivals earlier in December but edged the Swedes 7-6 in Coatbridge.

Born in 1992, Clydebank's Martin Harkins was the oldest competitor to don the blue vest, while the youngest of the competitors was Glenboig's John Whyte, who outpointed Adam Chartoi over the three rounds in the 48k category.

For Danny Lee, a coach at Greenock Amateur Boxing Club, the Bring Back Boxing initiative gives the youngsters an early taste of what is involved in representing their country.

"It's okay boxing on club shows, or even the Scottish championships, but it's a totally different thing getting paraded into the ring, staying at the hotel, trying to bond and having to box to instructions," he said.

"We've got a really good crowd of young boxers in Scotland and we are constantly trying to improve them.

"We are trying to give the boys a turn in the four internationals.

"The guys who won, they will have done some things wrong. And, for the boys who lost, we have plenty of time to work with them."

To try to create medal winners in Glasgow in four years' time, ABS has gathered some of the country's best coaches to work with the prospects, some of whom will take on Wales and Northern Ireland in the third and fourth internationals in January.

"I was approached by Richard Thomas to run a 2014 development team for the 1996 and 1994 boys," explained Lee, who says it's a challenge to work with these 14 to 16-year-olds only occasionally compared to the boys who frequently attend his own club.

"He asked me to recruit my own coaches, so I've got Bertie, Sam Mullen, Laurie Redfern and Alec Docherty and we've got a good thing going.

"The coaches work hard to get to know the boys, to tell them to jab, move to their right, to their left, cut the guy off, just as if they are their own boys at the their own club.

"We rely on the coaches who work with the boys in the districts, who see the boys boxing on the club shows."

And Lee, who trained pro-fighter John Simpson to the Commonwealth featherweight title, added: "Working with the professionals and amateurs is totally different, but you've got to be able to adapt easily."

Greenock's Craig Cox, at 57kg, enjoyed a convincing win over Sweden's Alban Kuci, which was followed by wins for Kelty's Fraser Gorn in the 60kg class and stocky Aberdonian Alan Laing, who took to the ring in the category three kilos heavier.

Fourteen-year-olds Jordan Beveridge and Liam Sandford lost their bouts, the latter an exciting high-scoring affair, before Sweden's Milad Fatemi beat local hero Johnny Campbell by a point to make it 4-3 to Scotland at the interval.

Lee Murray of Forgewood ABC was given a lesson by rangy fighter Omar Abdul Majid to level the contest before Kelty's David Winiarski beat Loran Batti (56kg), the judges giving the Scot the nod after two count-backs to break the deadlock.

Youths Charlie Flynn and Kieran Smith made it three wins in a row for the host nation, with the latter from Shotts, adding to his win against England the previous week.

Sahand Tavakoli did well to withstand the clubbing punches of Robert Forrest from Fauldhouse in the 75kg division, winning by two points, before Roy Alvarez nicked a marvellous contest by beating Harkins in the final encounter.

About 40 boxers will compete for Scotland in the four events, chosen for their performances in national competitions and coaches' recommendations.

"The schoolboy and junior squads started off at 50," said ABC chairman Thomas.

We've got a really good crowd of young boxers in Scotland and we are constantly trying to improve them. We are trying to give the boys a turn in the four internationals Danny Lee

"That has been pared down to mid-20. With the youth boxers, I put together a squad of about 15.

"The idea is that every year, as these boxers transition into the next age group, the talent pool will be filled up again and then filtered through.

"Guys like Danny Lee and Bertie McShane are constantly assessing the lads. They will measure their fitness, their will to win and their boxing ability.

"Sportscotland's funding is primarily based around the Commonwealth Games events and, after our success in Delhi, we want to build on that.

"But, in the international boxing calendar, there are lots of events in the lead-up to that, so we will pick out the key events to test our strengths at a tournament level as we go."

The contests against Wales and Northern Ireland take place at Meadowbank on 15 and 22 January respectively.

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