Great Britain heavyweight Isaac Okoh will begin his European Boxing Championships campaign in Sofia, Bulgaria, on Sunday when he faces Alexey Sevostyanov of Poland.
The 90kg boxer enters the continental tournament on a strong winning streak, having recently secured a Commonwealth Games gold medal in Glasgow.
Okoh told Sky Sports that he feels capable of beating any opponent in his division as he prepares for his opening bout in Bulgaria.
"I'm confident I can beat anyone in the world at the minute. It's going to take a really good fighter to beat me," Okoh said. "There's a lot of great competitors at the weight. I feel like I'm up there and I'm in real contention for a gold medal."
He added: "I'm well up for it and I fancy my chances against anyone at this tournament."
Chasing continental success
Okoh described his victory in Glasgow as a milestone moment in his career after returning home with gold. "It's a dream come true, When you first start boxing the Commonwealth Games is one of the tournaments you dream of going to and then obviously to bring home the gold medal not too far away from home with friends and family there, it's a proud moment," he said.
The victory marked a major turnaround for the British fighter, who suffered a disappointing performance at the World Championships a year ago.
"Since the World championships I've been boxing brilliantly. I knew I had to… I've been flying," Okoh said. He noted that his recent momentum builds confidence for upcoming international events: "It fills you with confidence going on into the future, Olympic qualifiers round the corner and the Olympics two years away."
In amateur boxing, the heavyweight division is contested at 90kg. The European Boxing Championships, hosted in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia, serve as one of the major continental tournaments on the international amateur boxing schedule, bringing together elite boxers from across Europe.
Amateur boxing tournaments like the European Championships operate on a knockout format, where boxers progress through preliminary rounds toward the medal stages. Great Britain's amateur boxing program regularly sends squads to continental championships to test top prospects against international competition.
Team Great Britain results
Okoh praised the depth and atmosphere within the national squad following their impressive performance in Scotland. "We've got a great squad. We had a brilliant medal tally coming back from the Commonwealths, one of the best in a long time. We've got a great squad at the minute, lots of talent, very young, fresh, hungry. So the mood's brilliant in camp and morale's through the roof," he said.
He added: "It's a great team and a great group of people to be around."
Fellow Commonwealth Games medallist Ruby White got off to a strong start for Great Britain in Sofia on Saturday. Competing after losing in the flyweight final in Glasgow, White delivered a dominant performance against Serbia's Nikolina Dzida.
White handed Dzida counts in both the first and second rounds before securing a clear unanimous decision victory to advance in the flyweight competition.
However, Great Britain suffered an early setback in the women's tournament when Sacha Hickey fell to a surprise defeat against Croatia's Sara Beram.
Okoh will look to maintain Great Britain's momentum when he steps into the ring on Sunday for his heavyweight opening bout against Sevostyanov.
