Islington Boxing Club had three boxers in action on the White Hart Lane show on Saturday.

Islington Gazette: Islington BC youngsters face the camera (pic Reggie Hagland)Islington BC youngsters face the camera (pic Reggie Hagland) (Image: Archant)

Dylan Gibson, 10, made his debut at 34kg in a skills contest against Jimmy McDonagh, boxing well throughout ahead of his first competitive contest this weekend.

Emma Fitzgerald came up against a very strong opponent in Haringey's Cristina Plannas and was retired by her corner just before the end of the first round, after receiving two counts from the referee.

But Fitzgerald will learn a lot from the defeat and the levels of amateur boxing having previously competed in two white collar contests.

Luca Veras turned up as a 'spare' boxer and weighed in with the small possibility of getting a bout with an opponent with a similar record, age and weight.

And he went on to beat Jimmy Mannion via unanimous decision on his Islington debut having joined the club a few weeks ago.

Islington had two senior boxers compete in the pre quarter-finals of the National Development Championships held at Dagenham's Roundhouse on Sunday.

Current champion Laura Weis (U54kg, Female B) was keen on getting out of the London finals first to make it a possible back-to-back titles but lost a close 3-2 split decision to Bianca Hayes (Churchill's) in an entertaining contest.

But two-time National Development finalist Sunni Torgman (U60kg, Female B) progressed to the quarter-finals by defeating Petra Bartakda (Banbury) via unanimous decision.

Torgman joins team-mates Jacob Johnson (U75kg, Junior), Bob Miah (U56kgs, Senior B) and Odera Okwuosa (91+kg, Senior B) in the quarter-finals.

For the second week in a row Miah was meant to compete in the championships, but Hoddesdon's Detrorri Brown - who he had beaten on a club show in March 2018 - withdrew at short notice.

*Islington have given thanks to sponsors Griffin Scaffolding for their support of the club.

A spokesperson said: "The club is a charitable limited company staffed mainly by volunteers and we all work hard with the young people from the local community and beyond to supply a facility that is safe, clean, hospitable and most importantly provide the best coaching possible.

"By providing training, mentorship and basic needs support for our boxers, we are able to create a lasting impact that ripples out across the community.

"Like most boxing clubs in the UK we need a constant supply of money coming in, and without the help of organisations such as Griffin Scaffolding, we would not be able to continue our work.

"A big thank you to them, their help is very much appreciated by all members at the club."