THREE Greenock fighters boxed clever on the big stage at the Scottish Novice Championships.

Greenock Boxing Club's Max Paton, Jamie Marshall and Ryan Cannon joined nearly 800 budding boxers at Ravenscraig Sports Centre in Motherwell and returned to the Bawhirley Road base with two silver medals.

The novice championships is one of the biggest amateur tournaments in Britain and attracted hundreds of spectators from across Scotland over the six days the competition was held.

Max produced knock-out performances to reach the final of the 48kg 2009 age group category.

He stepped into the ring for the first time to take on Robbie McMaster of Inverclyde Boxing Club.

Both fighters showed a lot of courage to step into the ring in front of 400 people and produced an excellent contest.

Max impressed the judges with a skilful and aggressive performance, working the head and body to book his place in the next round.

After his opponent pulled out of the semi-final, Max received a bye into the next round where he met Shaun Townsend from Lochend Boxing Club, which is the home of undisputed world champion Josh Taylor.

Max was well prepared for the difficult contest against the stronger, bigger and faster opponent and his long approach worked well.

However, the Edinburgh fighter caught Max with a lovely head shot and the contest came to an end after the referee gave him the count.

Despite being out of action for a while, Ryan displayed no sign of ring rust and won silver in the 75kg senior category.

He showed he's on the right path to developing his style by coming through a tough semi-final against James McLaren of Kingdom Boxing Club.

Ryan knocked down his opponent twice in the first, he sent him to the canvas again in the second before stopping his opponent in the final round in a dominant performance.

He narrowly lost on points in the final but was awarded a silver medal.

Jamie competed in the 63.5kg youth category and couldn't have asked for a tougher first opponent.

Coach Danny Lee said: "At novice level Jamie would have done well against any other opponents but he came up against one of the best performers of the competition.

"It was a valuable experience for Jamie and one he'll benefit from."

Danny added: "It was great for the club. Alan Docherty and Mick Pattinson have been coaching the boys since their introduction to boxing classes, so it was rewarding to see them involved in a major event.

"It's an unbelievable experience to see them start at the gym, train with the club and go and compete in boxing.

"It's a thrill for all coaches to see them make that progress over the years."