BASINGSTOKE boxer Bryce Goodridge made an excellent England debut at the Great Britain Three Nations Boxing Championships.

Light heavyweight Goodridge was called up at late notice after Great Britain number one Joshua Buatsi was forced to pull out.

The draw did not look too kind as Goodridge was drawn against seven-time Scottish champion Scott Forrest in the semi-final.

Goodridge’s long reach and constant movement gave Forrest problems from the start, with precise punches frustrating the Scot, who ended up on the wrong end of a unanimous decision.

The result took Goodridge into the final, where he met fellow Englishman Vanzie.

Vanzie started fast, throwing big hooks and looking to take Goodridge out early, but the Basingstoke fighter made him miss and landed some shots of his own in return.

Vanzie upped his game in the second round and the decision was in the balance.

The result was a split decision in favour of Goodridge.

Previous to this, Goodridge made it into the final four of the National Elite Championships held at Liverpool’s Echo Arena.

There he suffered a semi-final loss to Great Britain’s number one and last year’s champion Joshua Buatsi.

In a hard-fought contest, the judges seemed to prefer the stronger, rough house tactics of Buatsi to the cleaner, more accurate work of Goodridge, who had beaten Reece Ellis in the quarter-finals.

Basingstoke light-welterweight Jacob Gabriel went out in the quarter-finals.