A THAI boxer from St Ives has his sights set on European glory after claiming a professional British title. Leigh Edlin, who trains at the Chao Phraya Muay Thai academy in St Ives, defeated Pete Adams at the Tower Ballroom in Birmingham to add the IKF mid

A THAI boxer from St Ives has his sights set on European glory after claiming a professional British title.

Leigh Edlin, who trains at the Chao Phraya Muay Thai academy in St Ives, defeated Pete Adams at the Tower Ballroom in Birmingham to add the IKF middleweight British national title to the English title he picked up last year.

And now coach Shaun Boland has set the 29-year-old the target of defending his title before launching a bid for a European title in 2010.

"This is a significant breakthrough for Leigh as it pushes him closer to a shot at a European title. We will not be rushing things, but we are looking at the long-term and we think that a European title is within reach," said Boland.

"I'm a great believer in people defending their titles, because that is how you prove that you have earned it. We see Leigh defending his British title in the spring, and then we will be talking to promoters seriously about a European title fight."

Edlin prepared for the title fight against Adams with a gruelling eight-week training programme with Boland, a Thai instructor and a physical conditioning expert. The group set about improving Edlin's core strength for the bout, drawing up a programme that saw him training for three hours a day, six days a week.

Edlin's superior conditioning paid off in his bout with Adams as he maintained his levels of aggression and power to extend his unbeaten record to nine wins, seven by knockout.

Adams took the first round, putting his height and reach advantage to good use with long punches, but Edlin's body punches and kicks slowed him down in the second and third rounds.

In the fourth, Edlin raised the intensity and dropped Adams twice before a devastating right hand gave Adams a third eight-count, handing Edlin the title on the three-count rule.

Boland said that despite their ambition, the camp would be assessing their options carefully as they plot Edlin's path to a European title fight.

"We know that we have to take a step back and look at our options, because you don't stay undefeated long in this sport.

"Now that Leigh is British champion, people will be calling us with offer, so we have to make sure we pick the correct route for him. We've already turned down Commonwealth title fights because we don't want to simply be collecting belts - it's about picking the right way.