Home boxers shine on White Rose show at Lock Lane Sports Centre

The show started with White Rose’s 10-year-old Albie Tillotson and Alan Doherty, 11, in a skills bout against each other.

Bobby Bailey, 11, and Lee Francis, 12, from the Wakefield club, were next up in another skills bout against each other before Leyton Kot, 10, and Henry Dolan, 13, took part in skills bouts.

White Rose had William Bretherton, 12, TJ Knight, 12, McKenzie Hartley, 14, Jack Kirkaldy, 16, Ben England, 16, Ania Kot, 17, and Farrah Cunniff, 17, all in evenly matched bouts against opponents from clubs all over the country.

Huddersfield’s 17-year-old youth champion Adam Morris presented trophies to competitors.

TJ Knight won the best home boxer shield, presented in memory of Tony Steel, while Ania Kot and Jack Kirkaldy won awards for best bouts of the day.

White Rose’s national champion and seven times gold medalist Farrah Cunniff headlined, boxing a weight class up against a girl who had beaten her back on the club’s first show in November 2022.

The Normanton teenager emphatically avenged her loss, handing out standing counts to her opponents, to win the Yorkshire Elite Challenge Belt at 60-63kg.

Farrah, who previously won the Yorkshire belt at 57-60kg, produced one of her strongest performances to date to beat the current Youth Champion at 63kg and number one ranked girl in England for her age and weight.