CHARLEY DAVISON says she needs to win an Olympic medal before she can walk away from boxing.
The latest World Boxing Cup event gets underway in Kazakhstan on Monday, and Davison is in the Great Britain team after setting her sights on competing at a third Olympic Games.
The 31-year-old has competed in Tokyo and Paris.
In 2020, Davison lost out in the last 16 at flyweight, and she lost a controversial split points vote in her opening contest at bantamweight last summer.
Davison has made a medal at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028 her target, and by qualifying, she can put her name among the British boxing greats.
The late Dick McTaggart (1956, 1960 and 1964) is the only British boxer to have previously competed at three Olympics.
The Scot won lightweight gold in 1956 and bronze four years later in Rome, but headed home from Tokyo in 1964 without a medal.
Davison made an impressive return to action this month, going all the way to silver at the World Boxing Challenge in the Czech Republic.
She lost a 3-2 split to Yoseline Perez (USA) in the final.
For Davison, it was her first competitive action since defeat to Hatice Akbas (Turkey) in Paris last July.
She had wins over Scarlett Delgado (Canada) and Sirine Charaabi (Italy) before being pipped by Perez in the Czech Republic.
“I always felt Paris wasn’t the end,” Davison told Boxing News. “I haven’t got that [Olympic] medal yet. I felt I was hard done-by in Paris and I wouldn’t be being true to myself if I said: ‘That’s it.’
“I still had that fire in my belly. If I had decided ‘enough’s enough’, I would have ended up thinking ‘what if ?’, and I didn’t want that.
“I never saw myself turning pro. I’ve never been interested. I always said to my dad and coaches: ‘I’m an amateur boxer.’
“My style is better suited to amateur boxing and if I can win a medal in Los Angeles, that will be the end of my journey.
“I said to the coaches when I came back to the gym: ‘I want to enjoy boxing again; have fights at that level and make sure I’m 100% for the qualifiers.’
“I had a break after the heartbreak in Paris. I needed to miss the sport. I wasn’t punching, just doing strength and conditioning and cardio.
“I decided not to throw any punches until I missed it. I got itchy knuckles after a while!
“I wasn’t 100 per cent [in the Czech Republic], but I enjoyed it.
“I have boxed a couple of them before – the American and the Canadian – and they have been going to tournaments since Paris.
“It’s good to know I’m still at that level and I could have got the gold. The final could have gone either way. I thought I had got it just, but they gave it to her on a 3-2 split.
“That gives me confidence going to Kazakhstan. I want to get more bouts behind me and get better and better.
“In Kazakhstan we will be exposed to more countries. Countries who aren’t at the smaller tournaments will all be there.”
They will be there chasing ranking points for the World Championships in Liverpool in September.
Davison says she “can’t wait” to compete in Liverpool.
“Family members and friends are always asking: ‘When are you boxing at home ?’ and the closest to home it’s been recently was in Paris [for the Olympics],” she said.
“It will be a great experience. I know the Worlds will be very tough, but I know I’m up there [with the best].”
Davison, who qualified for Paris by winning European Games bronze in Poland, says her experiences in Paris and Tokyo will help her come home from Los Angeles with a medal.
“I never believed in that saying ‘you can’t buy experience’ until I went to Tokyo and Paris,” she said.
“It wasn’t just the boxers I was up against, it was the whole experience; how big the Olympics are and how to control your nerves. There are so many things you can only learn by being in those positions. I know how to equip myself now.
“In Paris, I lived in the moment more because I knew what to expect after going to Tokyo.
“I went from 51kgs [in Tokyo] to 54 kgs [in Paris] and I feel I’m growing into the weight.
“I have my strength now. I have gained muscle. I feel a lot stronger. People who have sparred me are saying I’m punching a lot harder, that I’m a lot stronger.”
But Davison won’t have Dave Alloway or Lee Pullen guiding her anymore, after they stepped down from their roles as Great Britain coaches after 16 years.
In that time, Great Britain claimed more than 100 medals at major competitions and picked up 16 Olympic medals.
“It was so sad to hear the news,” said Davison. “I didn’t want to hear it when I was told.
“Dave was my main point of contact coach so whenever I had any issue I would go and see him.
“Dave and Lee were the faces of GB coaching. I did a lot of work with them. If you think of GB coaches, you think of Dave and Lee and it’s such a shame they won’t be around anymore.”
