COMMONWEALTH Games silver medal-winning boxer Rosie Eccles says she has her sights firmly on the world championships later this year — and on the 2020 Olympics.

The Welsh boxer says she has got over the initial disappointment of narrowly missing out on gold in the 69kg final against the more experienced Sandy Ryan of England.

She said: “I’m  happy to be back and I think I’ve done people proud, the support has been amazing. 

“I was gutted not to get gold and I thought it was very close and I almost did it but I’m actually really proud of what I’ve achieved and it gives more of a drive to the next thing.

“I’ve still got so much more to come. I’m enjoying the rest and I’m looking forward to the world championships in November.

“I’ll be back in training camp from May 14 — I’m looking to the GB side of things and the Olympics in 2020 but first it is the world and some smaller internationals.

The Commonwealths are the best thing I’ve ever done but also the hardest thing I’ve ever done. You are constantly expecting to better yourself. It’s so much pressure, every opponent was different and I was having to adapt my game to each one.”

It is widely accepted that the former Chepstow Amateur Boxing Club fighter had the tougher route to the final — and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

“It was a hard draw but I wouldn’t have wanted a different draw — I’m renowned for getting the hardest draw, I got a hard draw in the Europeans.

“I had a tough draw but I went out and beat a lot of them and a lot of people think maybe I beat the last one.”

“When I got out in a major I want to do it the same way, it’s more rewarding,  I’ve trained to go out and box, I don’t want a bye or the easy fights.

“I’ve always been that way and I don’t want to do any other way. I want to do it the way it is was meant to be done.”

As well as the draw, Rosie achieved silver after being out of the sport for a year with an injury — this time last year she wasn’t even in training.

Rosie, whose path to Commonwealth glory started with a boxercise class at Caldicot Leisure Centre, hopes her achievements will inspire youngsters, both girls and boys, to follow their dreams.

“I went to Chepstow, put on the gloves and it felt like it was what I meant to do — it sounds cliched but it did.”

“People didn’t get behind me because I’m a girl, they got behind me because I’m an athlete. I don’t think it mattered that I’m a girl.

“It’s good in terms of challenging old stereotypes and in terms of bringing on youngsters and being a different kind of role model, not necessarily to go out and be a boxer but to have someone to aspire to with the attributes of an athlete.

“They can take that into a job or another passion — to take the attributes to be successful and be confident. It’s really important.”

Rosie says there are fewer barriers to women entering the sport and the women’s game is appreciated for its skill.

“There is a lot of talent out there and the women’s game has developed high levels of skill.”