Last weekend, the 17-year-old represented Scotland in a Three Nations tournament in Edinburgh where he was controversially beaten in the semi-final by his Welsh opponent. His coach and others ringside agreed it was a bad decision and he should have been awarded the win, but characteristic of his new-found maturity, Sean remained philosophical about the defeat.

"I thought I'd won and everyone else in the room thought I'd won," he said, speaking this week. "Even when I watched the video back I thought I should've won, but it didn't get me down – I still came home on a high. Afterwards the coaches said I'd boxed brilliantly and I felt pretty good about it."

Sean was selected to represent Scotland after catching national coach Kevin Smith's eye at February's Scottish Championships where, once again, the Hawick teenager found himself on the wrong end of a dubious decision from the judges, losing out in the final by one point.

"I thought I'd won then as well, so I was pretty disappointed, but afterwards Kevin came up to chat to me and said he thought I'd had a good fight and would be in touch."

Now, Sean is training once a week with the Scottish team in Gilmerton and looking forward to more fights next season.

"Going into this year, I thought I was only going to have the one fight, which doesn't really motivate you, but I've had a few now. Next year I'll have around one a month, which gives you that extra push when it comes to training.

"I want to keep training and I'd love to represent my country at a major tournament like the Commonwealth Games some day."

The hard work is beginning to pay off for the young boxer who until recently, had just a handful of exhibition fights under his belt and Hawick coach Jonk Sharkey is optimistic about his prospects for the future.

He said: "This is the first time any junior has represented the Hawick club at this level. The Scottish coaches have been quite impressed with him at training and if he listens to his corner he will do well, as he has a lot of ability.

"Last year he just seemed to shoot up in height and his weight went the same way, but at the beginning of this season, he could box in the Junior Scottish Championships.

"Although he was out-pointed, everyone including the Scottish coach thought it was a bad result and at a meeting of the East District delegates, Sean was selected on merit.

He continued: "Since I told him this could be a big chance for him he has knuckled down and trained every week in Edinburgh and Hawick, and finally made the grade.

The club has helped him financially with travelling costs. He's now gone from just playing boxing to becoming a boxer, which we think will make him a star in a hard sport."