Putney boxer Joe Joyce may not have got the gold medal he hoped for at the European Amateur Boxing Championships last week, but was still delighted with bronze.

The Earlsfield ABC representative was knocked out 49 seconds into his super heavy semi-final by Russian Sergey Kuzmin in Minsk, but earlier wins against Milutin Stankovic, 2:1, and Mikheil Bakhtidze 3:0, had secured him a place on the podium.

It was the 27-year-old’s first major competition as part of the Great Britain team and he admitted that, despite the nature of his exit, he was pleased with his showing.

“I wanted to bring back gold but bronze is good, especially when you see some of the other British guys who are good go out in the first round,” he said.

“I beat Stankovic in the World Series of Boxing recently so knew I could beat him. Bakhtidze I hadn’t boxed before and although he was very game, I boxed well.

“But in the semi-final I was called to fight earlier than we expected and I was still warming up.

“I knew he was going to come out fast but I wasn’t quite expecting his strength. I just got caught and it was all over.

“I thought I would beat him and I would face Magomedrasul Medzhidov in the final but it didn’t go that way.

“It is still good for my first major championship though.”

Joyce has been in the GB development squad since last year after he won the national ABA championships – despite only stepping into a boxing ring for the first time four years ago.

When he was 23, he was studying fine art at Middlesex University and only went to Earlsfield to keep fit during a summer break. He soon caught the boxing bug though.

“I was doing athletics at university and I started boxing just to keep fit in the holidays,” he said.

“I went in just on a Wednesday but after a while I started doing Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.

“Now I am up at the British Institute of Boxing up in Sheffield four days a week but I come back at the weekends and go to Earlsfield on a Sunday morning for some running and sparring. It’s good to go back and see everyone.”

Joyce’s meteoric rise is unlikely to stop here, with the World Championships in Kazakhstan in October next on his radar and then the Rio 2016 Olympic Games – having already sussed out some of his potential opposition last year.

“I was watching the Olympics on television last year and watched all the super heavy bouts,” he added.

“I remember thinking I could beat him, I could beat him, I am not sure about him.

“For now though I have a little time off to relax and then it will be back to training and looking toward the World Championships.”