The Haringey Box Cup 2023!

This weekend saw the return of the Haringey Box Cup! This prestigious amateur tournament has seen the likes of Katie Taylor and Anthony Joshua walk out the doors of Alexandra Palace as a champion.

We attended on Sunday, the day all the finals take place.

Our day began with two finals featuring two fighters from West Ham Amateur Boxing Club (ABC).

Connor Mitchell, son of British, Commonwealth, and 3x World title challenger Kevin Mitchell, won the Male Youth 57kg final for West Ham ABC with a unanimous decision win over Sean Tyndall (Docklands ABC).

In a high level, closely fought contest, Mitchell’s punch output was the difference. I was very impressed by Mitchell’s uppercuts when moving off the target! Make no mistake, Tyndall had success with a lot of the power shots coming from Tyndall.

Both are set for high honours for sure!

Freddie Pullen of West Ham ABC and Louix Goodman of The Peacock ABC clashed in the final for the Male Elite 60kg weight class.

This fight was the closest of our opening two bouts. Rounds one and two really could’ve gone either way, with both fighters struggling to find their range and land clean. It had the sense that Pullen and Goodman knew they were in a final and didn’t want to make the first mistake…

For me the final round was clearer in favour of Pullen, landing more shots with the back hand.

The fight could’ve gone either way… When scorecards were read, Pullen defeated Goodman by unanimous decision!

In the hours we were there, there were three other bouts where all fighters impressed:

- Faolan Rahill (Dublin City ABC) vs Lucas Roehrig (Dale Youth ABC) in the Male Elite 86kg final

o Roehrig Win via Unanimous Decision

- Adeji Adegbola (Repton) vs Ibi Ekineh (Finchley) in the Male Elite 92kg final

o Adegbola Win via RSC

- Lucy Kisielewska (Army Boxing Team) vs Caitlin Kelly (Antonine Boxing) in the Female Elite 70kg final

o Kelly Win via Split Decision

You can tell how much this tournament means to all the fighters involved and, even in defeat, there was the utmost respect for all opponents and the officials.

It was great to see a large media presence at the event; DAZN’s Ade Oladipo, former IBF Middleweight World champion Darren Barker, leading commentator Mike Costello and a master of sports journalism Steve Bunce were all in attendance. It is rumoured DAZN are preparing a documentary about this year’s Haringey Box Cup and will streaming the event live in 2024!

It was my first time attending the Haringey Box Cup and I am very much looking forward to next year.

Will any of the fighter’s mentioned reach the hights of Katie Taylor or Anthony Joshua? Either way, we are looking forward to seeing the journey.

Who was your standout performer from this year?