INVERKEITHING youngster Harrison Baxter kicked his way to the top of the world by claiming two gold medals at the World Kickboxing Championships recently.

The 10-year-old, of Niven Road, travelled to Tuscany for the World Kickboxing Association’s unified world championships that were held from 28th October to 2nd November and he claimed gold in both the light contact continuous and ring fights for boys aged between eight and 10 at -31kg and a bronze in the boys 8-12 years open points fighting at -32kg.

The Inverkeithing Primary pupil stepped up from a weight of -27kg from last year’s event – where he took third in the ring and first in the light contact continuous bout – to claim medals that dad Sean told Press Sport Harrison was “well chuffed” with.

He said, “He’s done really well especially as he was one of the busiest fighters there with 12 fights over four days but it was worth it. Last year when he went we never expected anything and we went with the same attitude this year. He was going against people up to 12-years-old after stepping up a weight and he’s only just turned 10, so there’s not just the physical side but the mental side to deal with as well. He was more excited about going back to the same venue and before it he was getting nervous, but I’m totally chuffed for him.” Harrison trains at Martial Fitness in Dunfermline and is coached by Colin Ritchie, who leads the Scotland team, and Ryan Lyall, who made his debut in the boxing ring at the SK Boxing Promotions ‘Raging Bull Fight Night Two’ at the Alhambra on 8th November.

The youngster took part in a demonstration before the action got under way and also finished third at the European Championships in the light continuous category and claimed the Scottish points and light continuous titles in August during a memorable year.

Sean continued, “Without Colin he wouldn’t be where he is and Harrison has come on leaps and bounds with him. Colin knows he has the skills and was confident he could fight well. He only had five minutes rest before his final in the ring but his fitness is so high that he’s able to get through it. He wants to be a professional fighter and he’s got the skills for it – he has a good future ahead of him.

“He was on a high when he came back but that’s levelled off again now. But we want to say thank you to those who sponsored him to go – Inverkeithing Hillfield Swifts donated £100, Browns Opticians in Edinburgh gave us £100 and Asda in Dalgety Bay allowed him to do some bag-packing and he raised £700. Even the school, neighbours and people in the local community filled in his sponsor sheet and without them we couldn’t afford it otherwise. We’re extremely grateful for the support and he’s absolutely delighted.”