Youth Championships 2023: North West and Yorkshire claim nine titles each
February 14, 2023 | by Matt Halfpenny
The cross-Pennines rivalry between the North West and Yorkshire to be the leading region brought out the best in both as they claimed nine titles each on a memorable weekend of action at the England Boxing National Youth Championships 2023.
Leighton Birchall and Joe Turner (Jennings Gym), Bernie McDonagh (Northside), Emily Whitworth (The People’s Gym), Paige Howarth (M31 Boxing), Leon Hughes (Larches and Savick), Ella Thompstone (Bury), Willie Loveridge (Ardwick Lads) and Troy Richmond (Sandygate) clinched the North West’s Finals Day wins at the North Solihull Sports Centre in the West Midlands.
They were matched title for title by Yorkshire, for whom Tallulah Pulling (Track and Fitness), Adam Morris (Rawthorpe), Hamilton Joyce (Camp Detox), Hunter Lambert (Wath Upon Dearne), Millie Fairfax (Titans), Ania Kot (Castleford), Chrissace Mendez (Gladiators), Alice Pumphrey (The Purge) and Lleyton Kirman (St Paul’s) triumphed.
Other parts of the country enjoyed a fair amount of successes too, with representatives of 10 of the 11 England Boxing regions going home with a national belt (for the Youth Open category) or gold medal (For Youth the Youth Cadet category).
London boxers secured six victories, East Midlands four, Merseyside and Cheshire, Tyne, Tees and Wear and Midlands three each, Home Counties and Southern Counties two each, and Western Counties one.
The strength of clubs nationwide was highlighted by the fact that the 42 category titles were shared between no less than 38 clubs with only three – Burton Park, Dagenham and Jennings Gym – having more than one winner.
“There were significantly more quarter-finals staged on Friday as part of a very busy weekend of boxing, which shows that the sport at amateur level continues to bounce back strongly following the break for Covid-19,” said Competitions and Events Manager Mick Maguire.
“The standard of the boxing was very strong, with bouts contested in an excellent spirit, and congratulations go to all those who competed, regardless of whether they won titles or not.
“I would like to thank all of the staff, security team and volunteers that made the event happen, as well as the coaches and boxer’s families for their support. In particular, I would like to thank the referees and judges who give up their time to give enable us to crown a new set of national champions.”
The Female Cadet boxer of the tournament was Keira Bowden (Redcar), while Lauren Mackie (Burton Park) took that honour in the Open class.
Male Boxers of the tournament were Musa Sheikh (Dagenham) in the Cadet class and Leighton Birchall (Jennings Gym) in the Open class.
Bouts of the tournament were Ruth Huntley (West Ham) v Keira Bowden (Redcar) in the Female Cadets, Alice Pumphrey (The Purge) v Ebony Jones (Scunthorpe) in the Female Open class, Charlie Brown (Repton) v Callum Kilmore-Walsh (High Wycombe), in the Male Cadets and Joe Turner (Jennings Gym) v Zayn Ahmed (Pinewood), Under 51kg in the Male Open class.
All Open class finalists, sole entries and those selected for a major championships in 2022 have now been invited to attend an England Performance selection camp in Sheffield on 25th and 26th February.
Click here to view full set of Finals Day results.
