BOURNEMOUTH boxer Gemma Ruegg claimed the Commonwealth Silver title in Manchester on Saturday, defeating Charlotte Powell.

Super fly Ruegg won on a unanimous points decision after the full 10 rounds in the bout at the Bowlers Exhibition Centre.

The fight was postponed by 10 weeks after the 39-year-old suffered a forearm injury, but the delay allowed Ruegg to recover and get herself to fighting fit.

After a face-to-face interview with Powell, in which she was respectful of her more senior opponent, and the weigh-in the night before, Ruegg felt confident.

“I was quite confident that I was going to beat her,” she told the Daily Echo.

“I thought I could outsmart her.

(Image: Karen Priestley) “I think she was relying on just fighting, I don't think she could have dragged out for 10 rounds, technically.

“10 rounds is more my game.”

As the fight wore on, Ruegg said she felt more and more comfortable.

“I felt from round one, though, that I was in control of the fight,” she said.

“And she tried to box me at the beginning, but I sort of managed to outsmart her with in and out movement and counter punching, counter attacking.

“I was winning all the exchanges.

“As the rounds went on, she got tired, but I just got stronger and she was trying to swing her back hand in which I could see quite clearly, and I was sort of ducking underneath it and coming up with an assault of my own.

(Image: Karen Priestley) “I was quite confident that I won, I won unanimously, with all the judges.”

Ruegg, who now has a professional record of 8-12-1, said the victory felt like karma and justice after recent close decisions and decisions she disagreed with.

“It felt like all those nights that have been like down because of it and it made up for all of that, that feeling,” she said.

“We got there in the end and my husband, my coach, he's always told me, you know, believe in the process we're going to get there in the end, you’ve got to see it through.

“We did and got there eventually.”

(Image: Karen Priestley) There was a nice symmetry to the victory, as it was in the same place where Ruegg’s husband, Danny, had beaten Michael Gomez 29 years previous, to the week.

She said Danny had told her that this was an omen and that she was going to win – and she delivered on that.

Looking to the future, Ruegg said she has a couple of offers on the table, saying: “I’ve got some great offers there for bigger things, moving up the ladder, really.”

She added: “I'd love to get some rematches with some of my old opponents, but we'll see what happens.”