John Saunders' whirlwind rise gathered even more pace last week when the promising young boxer won a bronze medal at the European Junior Championships in Bulgaria.

The 16-year-old from Upchurch went to the prestigious competition in Plovdiv with a big reputation to protect having just won the English Junior ABA Championships.

And the fighter from the St Mary’s Gym didn’t disappoint with three victories setting up a gallant semi-final defeat to the top ranked 16-year-old in the world.

"We’re absolutely over the moon with John’s performance," said St Mary’s joint head coach Dave Bowler.

"To go and fight Europe’s best was always going to be a huge test of what John is made of and it only confirmed what a class boxer he is.

"Although John lost to the world No.1 he beat the world No.3 in the quarter-finals comfortably, so you can make your own conclusions about where he stands in the world."

Boxing in the 66kg weight class, Saunders’ first bout was last Sunday when an impressive flurry stopped young Pole Igor Jakubowski in the second round.

The following day he comfortably overcame Albanian fighter Marsel Serrmi 14-8, a victory that up the biggest win of Saunders’ fledgling career.

The quarter-final saw him square up to Ukranian world No.3 Bodgan Symonenkov, and Saunders was on top form to unearth a brilliant 16-9 triumph.

A second major title beckoned for the talented Kent youngster but he found the height, long reach and power of eventual winner Bekkhan Shovkhalov just too much to contend with and he had to take a standing count on the way to a 15-10 defeat.