At flyweight, European champion Andrew Selby (pictured) was arguably the most unfortunate of the three as the 22-year-old from Barry lost-out 13-12 to the world number one Misha Aloyan from Russia in the closest of bouts.

The Welshman matched his opponent punch but was denied gold by just a single point on the judges' scorecards at the end of an enthralling fight.

"A silver medal at the World Championships is a great achievement however I felt I had done enough to edge it so am disappointed as I wanted that gold medal," said Selby.

"That said, there are a lot of positives I can take from this week and I have proven that I can beat anyone in the world."

His defeat was followed by a second disappointment as Campbell was edged-out 14-10 by Cuba's Lazaro Alvarez in the bantamweight final.

Campbell caught his opponent with a number of stiff jabs that had the Cuban on the back foot but Alvarez recovered well to land some telling shots in the final round that put an end to the Brits hopes of victory.


"If you said to me beforehand that I'd get the silver and qualify for the Olympics I'd probably have taken it but I am disappointed not to have won the gold because I thought I had the better of the bout," said the 24-year-old from Hull.

"I wanted to be the world champion but I have had a great tournament and secured a place at London and with the backing of the home crowd I am sure I can go one better in 2012."

In the final bout of the tournament, Joshua made it a hat trick of narrow dissapointments for Britain on the day as he was narrowly beaten 22-21 by Magonedrasul Medzhidov from Azerbaijan in an explosive super-heavyweight contest in front of a passionate home crowd.

The 21-year-old from London had been the surprise package of the competition after beating Italy's reigning world and Olympic champion Roberto Cammarelle in the quarter-final in what was only his second multi-nation tournament but despite some huge shots that rocked Medzhidov, Joshua was forced to settle for silver.


"It's been an amazing week and to qualify for the Olympics and make the final of the World Championships in only my second major international is incredible," said Joshua.

"It's been a brilliant learning curve and the focus now is on London and getting down to some serious work in the gym and making sure I go one better at the Olympics."

Despite the minor disappointment, it still proved a huge success for the silver medal trio who were joined on the podium by Liverpool's Tom Stalker who won bronze in the light-welterweight division.

The four medal haul is the best-ever performance by a GB Boxing team at the World Championships and tops the three medals won in Chicago in 2007.

The team also qualified boxers in five of the weight categories for the London 2012 Olympic Games with all the medal winners likely to compete and GB Boxing's performance director Rob McCracken admitted he was proud of the British boxers.

"The team has put in a superb performance and to come away with four medals and five Olympic qualifying places is a fantastic achievement that augurs very well for success at 2012," said McCracken.

"It is unprecedented for British boxers to contest three finals in the World Championships, it's just a shame that we were unable to come away with a gold as all of the boxers put in fantastic performances today, as they have done throughout the tournament.

"They have shown they are among the very best in the world and should be proud of their achievements."

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
October 2011: Joshua's stunning victory ensures Britain of four World Championship medals
October 2011: Stalker, Campbell and Evans secure first British boxing spots at London 2012
September 2011: UK Sport praises GB Boxing and predicts more medal success in 2012
September 2011: GB Boxing selects team for World Championships with Olympic spots on line