JAMIE Cox's dad Tony had to beg for tickets to watch his son reach the Commonwealth Games semi-final in Melbourne.

Unable to buy a seat due to the high demand for the fight with Australian Todd Kidd, he wrote boxing tickets needed' on a piece of cardboard and stood outside the arena.

His method worked as within 45 minutes he had secured tickets for his partner Lynn, son Lance and daughter Toni to watch the 33-26 victory "We all managed to sit together as well," he said, from Melbourne. "Three of the seats were together and I managed to swap mine with someone.

"There are thousands of people going in and some had the odd spare ticket. It cost me about 200 dollars but we had to get in there."

The Cox family, who were unable to pre-book seats from Swindon, have already bought their semi-final and final tickets and are confident the Walcot ABA star can win gold.

"He is looking good and is confident," added the proud father. "He should get through to the final.

"He has beaten the Welsh kiddie (Jamie Crees, his semi final opponent) before, he busted his nose, and I'm sure he can do it again."

The southpaw has caused some confusion back home after fighting under his mother's name Russan in Australia.

His father, who has been with Lynn for more than 20 years but never married, explained that was because Russan is the name on Jamie's passport.