Reese Lynch: Scottish boxer dreams of ‘big nights’ after Olympics push

At Boxing Scotland’s performance centre in Glasgow’s east end, Reese Lynch’s picture sits high on the wall behind weights racks and punch bags, right next to that of fellow light-welterweight, Josh Taylor.

The 21-year-old from Fauldhouse has already emulated Scotland’s former undisputed champion by winning a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games.

His next aim is to join Taylor as the only Scottish boxers to go to the Olympics in the last 30 years. If he manages that, he’ll have the gilded Dick McTaggart, Scotland’s last boxing medallist in 1960, in his sights.

“There are not many Scottish people that have been to the Olympics and got golds,” Lynch says. “There are a few, but it would be brilliant to just come back and be one of those hall-of-fame Scottish amateur boxers.

“Dick McTaggart, we’ve got him there as the best amateur, but I’m hoping I can get past that and get my name up there above him maybe.”

There is an uncertainty in those words but, make no mistake, Lynch is overflowing with self-belief – and rightly so.

He was part of what he calls the “best ever” Scotland boxing team, which took a record medal haul home from the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. He stepped on top of the podium after watching his friends Sam Hickey and Sean Lazzerini do the same.

Those men also adorn the walls of the high performance centre, an unassuming gym above a public library in Bridgeton, Glasgow.

Talent continues to pass through, with junior medals aplenty at the recent British championships.

Lynch is one of the faces of the coming generation looking to emulate Taylor in fighting on the biggest stages.

“It’s the dream to fight anywhere in America really,” Lynch says.

“That’s definitely an aim. And obviously to bring titles back to Scotland as well and have big nights here. Hopefully, Josh Taylor is still around then and me, Sam [Hickey], Tyler [Jolly], Matty [McHale], all that [Commonwealth Games] team.

“We’ll all be coming through, and all the young boys coming through as well – we’ve got plenty of good juniors. So there will be some big nights to come in Scotland in the near future.”

Some of the successful crop have already turned professional but Lynch is fixated on the Olympics. If it wasn’t for Paris looming next year, he would have already joined the pro ranks.

He acknowledges it can be difficult for Scottish boxers to get recognition – Taylor is a prime example – in a competitive UK market.

The Olympics, Lynch says, can give him the platform to launch his career. “Get a medal there and you’re sorted,” he laughs.

Lynch is fortunate in the sense his weight division is in the schedule and he grafted hard to make it on to the full-time British Boxing programme in Sheffield.

Before that, he was balancing boxing with working with his brothers, fitting kitchens. It taught him the value of resilience – something that came to the fore in his Commonwealth final, where he shook off a wrist injury to triumph.

He’ll need plenty more of that if he’s to make the brutal journey to the top of the sport. But, first thing’s first, the European Games in Poland this month, where a semi-final berth would secure Olympic qualification.

There will be other chances to reach Paris, but it’s crucial for Lynch nonetheless and is the chance to tick off another medal.

“I know I’ve got the ability,” he says. “I’ve been to plenty of tournaments and beat top-class boys. Beat world champions, European medallists, Olympians. So I know I can do it.

“I’m confident in the ring as well, I enjoy it. So I knew I could be up there. I just didn’t know if I would get on Team GB or know if it would be for me and things like that.

“But when you get on Team GB and you’ve got this good a chance of going to the Olympics, you’ve got to go for it, haven’t you? That’s where you cement your name in boxing – and make the money,” he smiles.