Beddington boxer Charlie Edwards has been tipped for a bright future by British boxing’s top brass after winning a debut senior medal on Sunday.

The 17-year-old - the only British fighter to medal - won silver in his first appearance in a men’s Team GB vest at the high-profile Tammer Tournament in Finland.

The Beacon High School student beat Germany’s Bilnd Badia in the semi-finals, but lost 7-3 to much fancied 19-year-old Philippines star Victorio Saludar in the final.

Team GB development squad head coach Paul Walmsley - a former coach to Commonwealth gold medallist David Price - described both performances as ‘near Olympic quality’.

And light flyweight Edwards believes the whole experience has given him a huge confidence boost.

“It has really opened by eyes to how big I could become over the next year and a half,” he said.

“I’m only going to get stronger and will be able to punch harder to stop people coming at me all the time.

“All the coaches from Great Britain and Ireland were raving about me and saying they were expecting to see a lot more from me on the international scene.

“I know the 2012 Olympics are the dream, but they are not that far from my reach.”

The Tammer Tournament counts the likes of Mike Tyson and Oscar de la Hoya among its illustrious alumni and drew 92 boxers from 22 countries this year.

Saludar had been expected to walk his way to the gold medal, but Hollington ABC’s Edwards was still in the contest at 4-3 down going into the final round.

But the youngster was not too downhearted.

“Everyone said it was really close and there was nothing in it. It could easily have been 7-5 or 7-6 at the end,” he added.

“I boxed really well and I was really pleased with both performances. I just seemed to get better with each fight.

“I knew I had to raise my game because I was fighting against people much older than me.

“The stronger boxing nations - like Russia, America and Cuba - aren’t in the Commonwealth so we were up against some of the best in the world.

“It was a great experience.”