BOXER Ioan Croft has vowed to do his utmost to bring a Commonwealth Games gold medal home to Crymych ahead of tonight’s welterweight final at Birmingham’s NEC Hall.

The 20-year-old southpaw earned his shot at gold by defeating Tyler Jolly in a nail-biting semi-final on Saturday which went right down to the wire.

The Scotsman held a narrow advantage going into the last round, only for his Cardigan ABC opponent to overturn the deficit with a do-or-die effort in the the closing half-minute of their high-quality encounter.

Ioan will now take on Zambia’s Tokyo Olympics team captain Stephen Zimba for the gold medal in the 67kg final at 7.45pm tonight.

It promises to be a fascinating clash with Croft’s high work-rate and innate skills pitted against Zimba’s relentless come-forward, barnstorming style.

Speaking after his narrow win over Jolly, Ioan again expressed his appreciation for the support he has received – both in the NEC Hall and back in west Wales.

“I’m now really looking forward to the final and the chance of bringing that gold medal home to Crymych,” he added.