Scottish boxing star Andy Tham dies aged 28 after a collision with a car while he was riding his motorcycle... as tributes flood in for 'a champion in and out of the ring'

Scottish boxing is reeling from a second tragedy in the space of a few months following the death of Andy Tham.

The 28-year-old passed away in hospital on Sunday after failing to recover from a collision with a car while riding his motorbike last week.

Tham, who was part of the St Andrew’s Sporting Club stable, became Scottish featherweight champion last September when he stopped Jack Turner in the sixth round of a compelling contest at the Braehead Arena on the undercard of the exhibition fight between Ricky Burns and Willie Limond.

Tham, from Cumbernauld, trained at the Kilsyth Golden Gloves gym and made his professional debut in March 2019, competing once more before the onset of Covid.

The electronic, fire and security engineer, who serviced hospital alarm systems during lockdown, returned to the ring in February 2022 and fought a further five times, with his final contest for the Celtic featherweight title ending in a points defeat to George Stewart in May.

His death follows not long after the passing of Limond, the former British and Commonwealth champion, who died following a suspected seizure in April. Tributes to Tham were paid from all corners of the boxing world.

A statement from St Andew’s Sporting Club read: ‘On behalf of the Tham family, St Andrew’s Sporting Club are devastated to confirm the tragic passing of Andy Tham.

‘Andy was a champion in the ring, and a character out of the ring. It has been an honour to have him in our stable for the entirety of his professional boxing career and he will be greatly missed by us all.

‘Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends. We ask that you please respect their privacy at this difficult time.’

British and Commonwealth featherweight champion, Nathaniel Collins, admitted he was ‘gutted’ after training with Tham just recently.

He said: ‘A very, very sad day indeed, one of life’s good guys! Was only sparring him a few weeks ago, would hang back to talk for ages and play with my daughter and talk to everyone in the gym.

‘One of the true good people you would ever have crossed paths with. Rest easy Andy. F****** gutted man, taken too young. Always the good guys.’

Former Scottish super-bantamweight champion Joe Ham said: ‘Rest in peace Andy Tham, one of the nicest but toughest boys in the world.’

Boxing trainer and sports scientist Andrew Usher paid a personal tribute. He wrote: ‘Devastated to hear of Andy Tham's passing. One of the nicest people around, and he was an absolute pleasure to work with. He always went above and beyond and was instrumental in helping me get my boxing research complete. Going to miss him and his Crocs.’

A police investigation into the accident is still ongoing. Sergeant Gemma Blackadder from the Road Policing Unit at Motherwell said: ‘Our thoughts are very much with Andrew’s family and friends at what is a very difficult time for them.‘Enquiries into the full circumstances of this crash continue. If you believe you have information that will assist our enquiries or if you have any dashcam footage, please contact 101 quoting incident number 3307 of 30 May.’