Little steps towards ultimate Games goal
Scott Little is looking onto bigger things after a brilliant bout-of-the-night victory on Saturday.
Formerly a full-time Guernsey Gymnastics Academy coach, Little has been pouring his energy into boxing following venue issues with his original sport – and it shows.
The relative newcomer won on a unanimous decision from the RAF’s Corey Rivers in their light-welterweight contest at Beau Sejour’s Sir John Loveridge Hall, awing a sizeable crowd but most notably the guest of honour Lt-Governor Richard Cripwell, who later selected him for the bout of the night award.
Little’s zestful celebrations showed how much that meant to him and the buzzing boxer soon revealed his Victoria 2026 Commonwealth Games ambitions, though he is currently focused on England’s national championship structure.
‘That’s my aim, and hopefully I will represent the Island eventually at a more serious level,’ he said.
‘I’m not a local, I’m from Newcastle, and I think I need to be here a little bit longer before I can do Commonwealth Games, but in four years I’ll be 28 and I could potentially go, so we’ll see what happens.
‘I’ll just keep training, keep pushing.’
Going into the third bout on his amateur record, Little still had memories of losing to Ethan Jones in his last outing.
But the promising pugilist’s determination to set that right has been remarkable.
‘I have been training hard for the last three months, so I haven’t been out at all, because I’ve been wanting to get the win,’ he said.
‘I was absolutely petrified to be fair. I was on the squash court warming up and I was extremely nervous ... I’ve been involved with loads of sports, and that’s probably the most nervous I’ve ever got.’
Referring back to his wider sporting background, he added: ‘It’s been gymnastics since I was nine, but this sport has proper changed my life.
‘This has really pushed me to give myself a good goal and something to concentrate on.’
The red corner lost 8-3 against RAF-based opposition, with surprise bill-topper Tommy Teers left slightly frustrated by his unanimous loss to Josh Millington.
• Read a full Open Show report in Monday's Guernsey Press
