A Moray soldier is proving himself to be a massive hit in Germany after emerging with the best boxer title in an Army tournament.
Highlander Leon Mitchell, 20 and a former Elgin Academy pupil, was representing his unit, The Highlanders 4th Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, in the lightweight (64kg) category at the 7 Armoured Brigade inter-unit tournament.
Leon enlisted in the Army in 2012, completing his basic training at Catterick the following year and passing out with the ‘Soldiers’ Soldier’ prize from his training platoon.
He joined up with The Highlanders in June last year and served as part of the Rear Operations Group in Fallingbostel while the majority of the Battalion were deployed on Operations in Afghanistan.
The award caps a good sporting year for Leon – he competed with The Highlanders team at the Royal Regiment of Scotland’s Inter-Boxing event at Meadowbank Stadium in March.
Ahead of that contest he picked up tips from Edinburgh-based professional boxer Craig McEwan, and trained with the Army Boxing Team in Aldershot.
Since joining the army Highlander Mitchell has developed his passion for boxing and credits the support of his Battalion as being the secret to his success in the ring in Germany.
He said: “The Battalion will push you on to be the best you can be in a sport. My next goal is to win the major units alongside my team.
“After that take things from there ideally in the next year or two I’d like to get trials for the Army team.
“Opportunities have been second to none with the places I’ve been able to visit. The coaching has been top notch.
“The world’s your oyster if you want to box at company level then you can but if you want to box at Army level then you can as well.”