Scott Ready to Build on World Championships Silver

Australian boxer Kaye Scott admitted to a ‘bittersweet’ feeling in the immediate aftermath of this year’s women’s Boxing World Championships in Kazakhstan.

Scott had just made history, winning a silver medal and becoming Australia’s most successful amateur boxer at a World Championships.

It was only a momentary feeling though, as the full weight of what Scott had just achieved began to sink in.

It was, without any doubt, a career-changing moment.

“Life has been bloody great since Worlds,” Scott said this week.

“Only three weeks after returning home from Kazakhstan I was given the opportunity to head over to the USA with the Australian Olympic boxing team to assist with preparation.

“I had some fantastic sparring at the USA Olympic training centre in Colorado, sparring against Claressa Shields (who went on to win her second Olympic gold medal).

“It was also an honour to be a training partner alongside Shelley (Watts), to help her push in our track and conditioning sessions. I feel very blessed to have been part of their special journey.”

It’s been a dramatic 2016 for Scott, who narrowly lost out on the right to try and qualify for the Olympics in the 75kg category, beaten by Perth teenager Caitlin Parker in the qualifiers.

Last month she returned to the US for more training, and this month will compete in several events in Europe with Parker, World Championship bronze medallist, Skye Nicolson, and Commonwealth Games boxer, Kristy Harris.

Scott is feeling better prepared than she has for a long time. 

“My most recent trip to the USA involved meeting up with former USA team member, Raquel Miller, for some great quality sparring and training together,” Scott said.

“I also did some training with former Australian team boxer, Jessica Retallack. She has a great training facility and a knowledgeable Cuban coach.

“Travelling overseas allows me access to new training partners and also new coaches to learn new drills and ideas from.

“It also allows to focus solely on boxing, rather than getting caught up with work/family/friends distractions. I've been lucky this trip to be exposed to all those positive benefits.” 

As a World Championships silver medallist, Scott can no longer expect to sneak under the radar on the international stage.

But you get the sense she’s happy to be the hunted rather than the hunter, and that she is expecting to flex her muscles in Europe.

“I'm completely confident in my preparations, which means I'll be expecting to return home with a medal from these upcoming tournaments,” she said.

“I have proof now that I can mix it with the best in the world so this is another opportunity to prove that.”

Scott and her Australian teammates will compete in tournaments in Bulgaria and Poland.