DEVIZES ABC’S Nikita Silvera is taking stock of her capital gains after clinching a sensational gold medal at the largest amateur boxing event in Europe.

The 29-year-old, from Corsham, travelled to the Haringey Box Cup at London’s Alexandra Palace last weekend and returned a national champion after victory in the female B 69kg category.

Former Army boxer Silvera, who is a sergeant with the Royal Signals, took a unanimous points decision against former ABAE (Amateur Boxing Association of England) champion Laura Stevens, from Northampton’s Far Cotton Club, on Saturday before powering past Corinthians’ Tina Donnelly in Sunday’s final, stopping her Irish opponent midway through the first round.

“It was a bit of a shock and I wasn’t really expecting to go there and win,” said Silvera, who is mum to five-year-old Kyro and is coached by Liam Wilkins at Devizes.

“It hasn’t really sunk in properly but I’m happy because the coaches have put a lot of hard work into it.

“I used to box with the Army but when I came back from my tour of Afghanistan, my job changed and I couldn’t really box there anymore because the squad is full-time.

“I read about Devizes in the newspaper, went down there about a year ago and ended up joining them. “There were originally supposed to be four girls in my group but there ended up being just three. There was a computerised draw and I ended up having to fight a semi-final.

“She (Stevens) worked me really hard for three rounds and I was a little surprised to win that one – it was a lot tougher than the final.

“It’s definitely my biggest win and we’ll see where it takes me.”

London 2012 Olympic gold medallists Anthony Joshua, Nicola Adams and Katie Taylor are all former Box Cup champions and this year’s competition was the biggest boxing event to ever take place in Britain, with more than 500 fighters in action.

Delighted Devizes ABC head coach Paul Wilkins added: “Nikita walked in to us a little while ago looking for somewhere to box and she really is a star in the making.

“Other coaches were coming up and saying that she deserves an international call-up. I’m really happy for my son Liam, who coaches her, too.”