Britons Luke Campbell, Andrew Selby & Anthony Joshua reach finals
Last updated on .From the section Boxing
Britain's Luke Campbell, Andrew Selby and Anthony Joshua will go for gold at the World Amateur Boxing Championships after successful semi-finals in Baku.
English bantamweight Campbell edged a tight contest against Ireland's John Joe Nevin before Welsh flyweight Selby beat Uzbek Jasurbek Latipov.
Super-heavyweight Anthony Joshua made it a British hat-trick by stopping Germany's Erik Pfeifer in round one.
Light-welterweight Tom Stalker lost to Ukraine's Denys Berinchyk.
Hull's Campbell got the verdict on countback in his bout after the judges scored the three rounds 12-12, denying Nevin an opportunity to improve on the bronze he won at the previous World Championships.
The Irishman's performance has earned him automatic qualification for next year's London Olympic Games.
"It was a close one but I thought I did enough," said Campbell. "I was counting the score in the last one and I thought I won by a couple. All the graft in the gym and throughout the year is paying off.
"All credit to John Joe, he's a great competitor and has qualified for his second Olympics. I'll be going to my first, and now I've got a World Championship final to look forward to. I can't wait."
Selby looked in trouble when he trailed after round one against Latipov but the Barry fighter went on to dominate, flooring his opponent in the final round to come through 21-15.
"I was always confident I'd win even when the coaches told me I was behind after the first," said Selby.
"I thought he'd tire and I'm in great shape and just went in and enjoyed myself, threw a few shots, and a few of them hit so I felt pretty good.
"I'm doing the weight well, scoring points and feeling good so it would be nice to pick up the gold and get my place at the Olympics".
Should Selby take gold in Baku he will overtake Khalid Yafai in the battle for Great Britain's 52kg category place at the 2012 Olympics as there is only one spot available. A defeat on Saturday will see Selby and Yafai 'box-off' at some stage next year to decide who goes to London.
Joshua gave a tremendous performance with the 21-year-old from Finchley drawing blood early on against Pfeifer and forcing the contest to end with barely half a round gone.
Stalker found things much tougher going in his light-welterweight semi-final, Berinchyk winning 31-18 to leave the Liverpudlian with a bronze medal and the considerable consolation of having secured an Olympic place.
