Islington fighters claim hat-trick of gold medals at Haringey Box Cup
Left to right: Troy Smart, Charlotte Briant and Sherif Musah with their gold medals - Credit: Archant
Charlotte Briant overcame her Swedish opponent to claim the first gold medal in an Islington BC hat-trick at the Haringey Box Cup.
Briant beat Tina Gunell (Narva ABC) for the first gold medal of the tournament on Sunday and her success was matched by Islington team-mates Troy Smart and Sherif Musah.
Boxing in the Class C Under-75kg category, Briant came out strongly in her semi-final against Shanie Kelleher (Five Star ABC) and pinned her on the ropes to force a standing count, winning by TKO.
Nerves were no problem when the Islington boxer met Gunell in the final as she dominated the first two rounds and finished strongly after a brief lull to secure a unanimous decision.
Smart – who had won a silver medal at the 2012 Haringey Box Cup – went one better in his Class B Under-56kg final against Tamworth’s Joshua O’Donnell.
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Smart worked well off the jab and grew in confidence as he built up a comfortable lead, taking a unanimous decision.
Musah completed a hat-trick of wins over Ola Alausa (Double Jab) in the Class B under-86kg semi-final, taking some heavy shots in the first round but coming back to finish strongly with a series of uppercuts and hooks as he took a majority verdict.
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The Islington fighter also secured a treble of gold medals for the club, finding his range in the final against John Connors (Munster Select) and forcing a standing count before landing a number of straight shots that prompted the referee to halt the fight in the second round.
Four more Islington boxers entered the tournament, although Hazel Gale was without an opponent in the Class C Under-75kg section.
Elena Nanzanski lost a majority decision in her Class B Under-69kg quarter-final against Natasha Cole (Moneyfields ABC), failing to make use of her height and reach advantage.
Late substitute Jack Rowe, boxing in only his third contest, struggled to cope with the southpaw style of Woking’s Ben Cheeseman, who took a unanimous decision in their Class A Under-81kg contest and went on to win the gold medal.
Reece Shagourie forced a stoppage at the end of the first round in his Under-75kg open elite quarter-final against Jake Brown (Fitzroy Lodge), who took a standing eight count before being withdrawn due to a deep cut over his eye.
But Shagourie was defeated by majority decision in the semi-final against Lewis Syrett (Sevenoaks), despite appearing to control the first two rounds as he caught his opponent with a string of backhand shots.
Islington’s Ernie Swinhoe beat Martin Ward (Finchley) on a unanimous decision in the Haringey ABC junior show that preceded the main event at Alexandra Palace.
