A KENDAL man has his eyes set on a final after being chosen to referee and judge at the men's World Boxing Championships.

Alvin Finch said he was 'ecstatic' but 'very nervous' at being selected for a major tournament again.

The 55-year-old feared a lack of involvement in refereeing during the pandemic - his job as a community support worker meant he had to shield - had left him off the radar of the International Boxing Association, or AIBA.

"In my own heart, my chance of anything major like this again had gone," he said.

"Obviously, I'm not forgotten about and I'm still in the picture."

Mr Finch said the pressure on officials at the world championships in Belgrade, Serbia, which begin in October, would be 'immense'.

"This is the first time they've had prize money and it's £100,000 for the gold, £50,000 for silver, £25,000 each for the two bronzes," he said.

Mr Finch, who previously served two years as mayor of Kendal, finishing in the role earlier this year, has refereed all over the world but, on his only previous appearance at the world championships, in Hamburg in 2017, he did not get the opportunity to oversee a final - the only one of his 74 tournaments, he says, where he has not achieved this feat.

He has his sights set on refereeing a final this time, however, and, looking further ahead, wants to fulfill another ambition by refereeing at the Paris Olympics in 2024.

"Refereeing means the world to me," he said.

"I have been in boxing since I was nine years old.

"I'm 55 now. In four years' time, I'll have been in this sport 40 years."

Mr Finch turned professional at 19 and fought 106 fights between the ages of 11 and 21 - when he was forced to retire after suffering an eye injury during a bout.

He later coached at Ambleside and Windermere Amateur Boxing Club - where son Taylor, who signed a professional contract earlier this year, boxed as an amateur.

Mr Finch has also refereed on television, stepping into the ring for BBC Sport Relief in 2018 to oversee matches between reality star Spencer Matthews and former footballer Wayne Bridge, and pop singers Vanessa White and Hannah Spearritt.