A YOUNG boxer from Tranent has been shortlisted for Scottish Junior Boxer of the Year by broadcaster JATV.

Fifteen-year-old Hayden Fisher lives in Tranent with his parents and two siblings, and will attend the award ceremony at Glasgow Marriott Hotel tomorrow (Friday), where he will find out if he has won.

Hayden, a pupil at Ross High School, began boxing when he was nine years old and attended the Bronx Boxing Gym in Tranent.

His mum, Sharyn Fisher, said that his decision to try boxing came out of nowhere.

She said: “He just said to me and his dad one day that he wanted to try out boxing.

“We took him down to the Bronx in Tranent and he tried a class there and was hooked on it straight away.

“It obviously wasn’t competitive at that age, but he’s grown with the sport and is now competing in fights.”

Hayden began training at Clovenstone Amateur Boxing Club in Edinburgh during lockdown, where he had to complete most of his training at home.

Mrs Fisher said: “Lockdown was difficult because he had to do a lot of training at home. But to his credit, Hayden kept working really hard to maintain his fitness levels.

“Once things opened, he was really eager to get going again and be back to training at the club.

“He trains really hard, usually four times a week, and he also has to go on diets in order to maintain his shape for fights.

“He’s really dedicated to his fitness, so we don’t feel we have to encourage him too much to stick to diets either.”

Hayden regularly takes part in competitive fights, but Mrs Fisher admitted that she found it difficult to watch him compete.

She said: “I tend not to go to the fights, if I’m honest. His dad is at almost every fight supporting him but sometimes I find it too difficult to watch.

“It’s a strange one because when you are watching him you get sucked into the moment and you just really want him to win no matter what.

“But at the same time, as a mother, you never really want to see your son fighting, so most of the time I’ll just wait to hear the result or watch it at home on replay.”

Hayden will find out if he’s won the award at the ceremony tomorrow.

Mrs Fisher said: “We’re all really proud of him and all he’s achieved so far.

“We only found out recently that he had been shortlisted, we have no idea who nominated him for it, but it is well deserved.”

Now in his fourth year at Ross High, Hayden will have the difficult task of balancing his studies and his boxing.

But Mrs Fisher said that she would make sure he put enough effort into his schoolwork this year.

She said: “I know in an ideal world he’d like to make a career out of boxing, and I’ll always support him in that.

“He’s also expressed an interest in completing some form of fitness qualification or possibly going into a trade.

“It will be tough for him this year, but I’ll be making sure he keeps studying hard!”