TEENAGE boxer Lilly Deacon is heading to the United States from Queensbury next week, and insists she is going for gold at the Under-19 World Championships.

The tournament takes place in Pueblo, Colorado between October 25 and November 5, with 18-year-old Deacon one of just 11 English boxers to be selected for her country.

She will compete in the Under 70kg section, a step up from the 63-66kg category she was in when she won a bronze medal at the European Junior Championships in Italy back in 2022.

Deacon trains at Platinum Boxing Club in Queensbury, which is run by her father John, and the two of them spoke to the T&A ahead of the trip to America.

The teenager told us: “It’s definitely the biggest moment of my career so far.

“I did a two-day selection camp in Tamworth at the end of August, and then England Boxing emailed me a week later and told me I’d made the cut.”

Deacon’s star has really risen from the age of 16, as she said: “I got that bronze medal at the Europeans two years ago this month and I’ve just been to Germany this summer.

Lilly Deacon (right) beats her Turkish rival to guarantee European bronze in Italy back in October 2022.Lilly Deacon (right) beats her Turkish rival to guarantee European bronze in Italy back in October 2022. (Image: UGC.)

“I was out there for a Box Cup and won gold and got female boxer of the tournament.

“I boxed the Czech Republic and a German girl to get to the final, then I beat my England teammate Lily Dolling to win gold.

“My aim is to go out and get Youth gold in Colorado now, that’s what I’m wanting from the tournament.”

Deacon is only in this privileged position due to the work she and her coaches at Platinum have put in.

Asked what the Queensbury club has done for her over the years, the 18-year-old said: “They’ve coached me well and made me train hard.

“Dad has supported me through it all in my career so far, and he’ll be out there with me in Colorado, alongside my mum and my brother.”

Deacon hopes she will be back in America in a few years’ time too, on the biggest stage of all.

She said: “I want to go to the Olympics in 2028 in LA, that’s a real career goal of mine.

“This will be my first time out in America later this month though, and I don’t know exactly how many people I’ll be boxing in Colorado until I get there, but it’ll be quite a few with it being the Worlds.

“I’ve got my last training camp in Sheffield over the next few days, then I’ll fly out to the US on Monday evening.”

Her dad could hardly hide his pride in his daughter, but he wanted to ensure the whole club got the recognition it deserved.

He said: “It’s not just me, all of the coaches at Platinum have done a fantastic job with Lilly and our other boxers.

“We’ve got other talented young prospects at the club too.

“Siobhan Haley’s just won the Box-Am competition in Spain for England, and she has European medals at Schoolgirl and Junior level.

“There’s also John Elham, who’s only 12, but he’s already a two-time national champion and he’s won all 33 of his career bouts.

“We’ve got so many kids coming through and I just wanted to give them all a mention, I didn’t want to leave anyone out.”