Adrian Roach had no time to feel disappointed after losing in the final of the Brampton Cup on Sunday with fatherhood rapidly approaching.

Roach lost on a split decision against Alexander Campbell in Ontario after beating the top-two ranked amateurs in Canada on his way to the final, but any downcast feelings were diminished with the news that he would soon be celebrating the arrival of his first child.

“I’m just super excited and as I speak to you right now, my partner is in labour,” Roach told The Royal Gazette on Monday morning.

“It all happened in such quick succession. I was disappointed with only getting the silver medal but my mindset quickly shifted. No win, no loss or no medal can outdo this feeling of becoming a father. I’m just so excited and I’m ready for this journey.”

It is shaping up to be a big year for Roach, who is set to turn professional in the summer and he is hoping to have his first pro fight on home soil.

“People can expect to see me professional by the summer,” Roach said.

“I hope to have my first few fights in Bermuda just because it would be a way of giving back to everybody who supported me throughout my amateur career. I started boxing at 15 and since my first fight at CedarBridge to fighting at Berkeley, the Southampton Princess and at the Shed in Dockyard, a lot of people have literally been there since day one, so as a treat to them I’d like to put on my first couple of professional fights in Bermuda.

“Even if I do go abroad and start fighting more often overseas, I want to periodically return to Bermuda to give the fans a treat and show what the hard work has done. I’ve had a pretty good amateur career, got a lot of fights under my belt, so I’m hoping when I go pro I will iron out all the wrinkles and have a really good career.”

Roach was knocked out at the quarter-final stage in the Brampton Cup last year and the silver medal he won last week has given him the impetus to continue on his training plan.

“Last year’s tournament was a big wake-up call to me to ramp up my own training and I felt I was getting a bit too complacent,” Roach said.

“Being in Bermuda, it’s a small pond and if you start doing well it doesn’t really mean too much on the international stage. It is an accomplishment to do well in front of everybody who love you but on an international stage you have to aspire for more.

“That’s why I took the first trip out to Las Vegas to broaden my horizons and I met up with a great team out there and they taught me a lot. I went back in the later part of the summer last year, brought back things to work on and solidified my style.

“I didn’t fight too much last year, only four times, but it was a good year for development and while walking away with a silver medal is not what I wanted, starting 2025 off with two wins against two of the best fighters in Canada is something I can live with.”

In a close final bout at the Brampton Cup, Roach lost 2-1 on the judges’ scorecards but felt the decision could have gone either way.

“I had one of the hardest routes of all the competitors,” Roach said.

“In my bracket I faced the No 2 in the country right off the bat and then the No 1 in Canada right after before fighting in the final, so as far as reaching the final and overcoming those mountains in the first half of the tournament, I was happy and proud of myself.

“But I am pretty disappointed that I wasn’t able to get the gold. It was a really close fight and there wasn’t too much action in the final, it was super technical and it just came down to small things.

When we got on the inside. I was tieing him up and the ref called me for holding a couple of times and I think things like that might just have swayed the judges. I’m upset with the decision but I don’t feel like I was robbed. If I go into somebody else’s country I have to take the win from them.“