GREENOCK Boxing Club is celebrating its first senior Scottish Champion for the first time in its history.

Robbie McKechnie, 21, left his opponents on the ropes to take the title at Ravenscraig Sports Centre in Motherwell.

He will now represent Scotland in the Great British Boxing Championships in Dunfermline next month.

Robbie, who has been boxing for 10 years, said: “I had to win four fights and they were all good boys, the best in Scotland.”

Robbie triumphed over Sean Spence from Edinburgh in the finals.

He said: “It was good to win. I’ve won the junior championships, it’s a lot harder as a senior and it was good to get it. My family and friends were all there cheering me on and it was a good atmosphere.

“I’m looking forward to representing Scotland. I’ve been training hard for it.

“It would really mean a lot, because winning the Scottish senior championships was a big achievement, so the British championships would be even better!”

Coach Danny Lee said: “It’s the first time in the club’s history that we have a senior champion. Robbie is really dedicated, he is a former junior Scottish champion and he was also in the Great Britain squad.

“He had to win four fights to win. He stopped his first two opponents in the first and second rounds and the final was the best contest of the night.

“Robbie started working and he seemed to fall out of love with the sport and started coaching and sometimes when you start coaching, you get a feel for the sport again. 

“He understands better what I was trying to tell him. Now he is passing it on to other people.”

Robbie said: “I still coach the younger boys. I’m hoping to encourage the next generation.”

It’s a double whammy for the club as teenage sensation Tony Orr lifted the junior crown at the Boxing High Performance Centre in Glasgow last month.

It’s the third time the 15-year-old Notre Dame pupil has won the title.

Tony, of Shandon Place, Greenock, said: “It was great — it’s just getting better and better. I was buzzing.”

Danny said: “Tony has the full boxing package and is really committed.

“He trains hard and goes for a run every day before school and watches his diet.

“This is the third time in a row he has won the Scottish Championships and he’s only been boxing for three years.”