Four North-East boxers are ready to do battle in a major international competition.
Savannah Stubley, Kiaran Macdonald, Jack Dryden and Joe Tyers are just four of 27 women and men from the GB Boxing squad selected to compete at the World Boxing Cup: GB Open – Sheffield 2024. It all begins on Wednesday, January 17 and lasts until the weekend.
The name might be a bit of a mouthful but the tournament itself an absolute beauty and for the GB Boxing squad it is right on their very doorstep.
It is being staged at the English Institute of Sport, down a flight of stairs from their state-of-the-art gym at the Sheffield sports complex.
More than 100 boxers from 16 countries are taking part in the event which is only the fourth elite, multi-nation, Olympic-style boxing competition to be held in Great Britain since London 2012.
For Stubley, Macdonald, Dryden and Tyers it is a vital launchpad for one of the final tune-up events before the upcoming Olympic boxing qualifier in Milan, from March 4-11.
How the boxers perform in Sheffield is expected to have a bearing on selection for the qualifier in Italy, where there is the opportunity to secure a place at Paris 2024.
The Sheffield event is new to the elite international calendar and is part of the World Boxing Cup series which has been developed by World Boxing, the new international federation established to ensure this great sport remains at the heart of the Olympic movement.
Stubley is one of three GB light-flyweights in action at the English Institute of Sport, alongside Demi Jade Rezstan and Ivy-Jane Smith.
The 22-year-old, from Northumberland, was a Commonwealth Games bronze medalist in Birmingham, and has been on the podium at her last two international excursions.
Savannah, who represents Empire ABC in Blyth, won a bronze medal at the Leszek Drogosz Memorial tournament in Poland in September and contested the final at the Boxam tournament in Spain. Her bout with Wassila Lkhadiri proved closely fought with the French girl winning on a split decision.
Of Tyne, Tees & Wear’s three male competitors, flyweight Macdonald flies the flag for Sunderland ABC, Newcastle featherweight Dryden is part of the all-conquering Birtley ABC, while Trimdon light-welterweight Tyers boxes out of Billingham Boxing Academy.
Macdonald and Tyers both ended 2023 on the international podium, winning silver medals at the Tammer tournament in Finland.
Before that, Tyers was a bronze medallist at the World Boxing Cup: Cologne 2023, with Macdonald and Dryden exiting the competition in Germany in the preliminary stages.
All three of our boxers have GB Boxing company in the draw in Sheffield with Hemza Mehmood, from Milton Keynes, named at flyweight, with Welsh duo Owain Harris and Scott Richards in the featherweight section with Dryden and Londoner Patris Mulghalzai and Huey Malone, from Coventry, at light-welter alongside Tyers.
Click here for ticket info for World Boxing Cup: GB Open – Sheffield 2024
GB Boxing’s Performance Director, Rob McCracken, said: “We are at the start of an Olympic year and having this competition so early in 2024 is a great opportunity for our boxers to compete in the UK.
“It will be excellent preparation for the second Olympic qualifying event. “That selection process is around the corner and with places up for grabs, this competition in Sheffield provides a good platform for the boxers to demonstrate what they are capable of and stake a claim to be picked for the next Olympic qualification event.”
Words: Roy Kelly Picture: ITV Tyne Tees
