LISA Whiteside may force the great Barry McGuigan to switch allegiances on Sunday as the East Lancashire puncher goes for Commonwealth Games gold in Australia.
The 1978 Commonwealth Games bantamweight champion contacted Whiteside ahead of her flyweight semi-final to wish her well.
And he is not the only big name boxer to get in touch, with the current heavyweight champion of the world, Anthony Joshua, also offering his best wishes as Whiteside goes for gold on Saturday.
The 32-year-old from Whittle-le-Woods overcame both the home crowd and her opponent to make the final as she won a split decision over Australia’s Taylah Robertson in Friday’s semi-final.
And she will now face Northern Ireland’s Carly McNaul for the gold medal.
“The feedback I am getting from home is great,” she said. “Not just from my friends and family, it’s from the unknown, from celebrities, people within the boxing world saying ‘wow, you dominated that fight against India, we didn’t think it was a split’.
“I’m just overwhelmed and now it’s time to rest, recuperate and bring that gold home on Saturday.
“I had a message this morning off Barry McGuigan, saying he’s super chuffed about how I’ve done and wishing me all the best - he’s an absolute gent of a man.
“And also Anthony Joshua, he’s part of our family at GB boxing. Natasha Jonas too, she’s one of my best friends.
“I’ve got a Northern Irish girl next but Barry will still be with me!"
In the squash there was a victory for Hoghton's Laura Massaro in the women’s doubles quarter-finals.
She and Sarah-Jane Perry booked their semi-final spot with an 11-8 11-10 win over Malaysia’s Rachel Arnold and Sivasangari Subramaniam.
While in the women’s TT6-10 para-table tennis singles Burnley’s Felicity Pickard lost in the semi-finals.
The 23-year-old was beaten 11-6 11-7 11-8 by Nigeria’s Faith Obazuaye but will go again on Saturday in the bronze medal match.
npower is the Official Partner of Team England and is giving our athletes the power of support by recording a brand new version of their anthem, Jerusalem. To listen to the track visit npower.com/teamengland
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