BOXERS ‘DISASTER’ AFTER NO SHOW
No opponents after an 11-hour shambles
Cambuslang boxers travelled 200 miles and were left waiting almost 11 hours before being told they had no opponents to fight at a British tournament.
Daniel McMurray, 16, and Chloe Bodwick, 14, made the trip south with O’Neils ABC coaches on the understanding they would compete in two bouts at the UK Golden Gloves Box Cup, on the weekend of April 7.
Both young boxers have struggled to be matched up with opponents in recent months due to their size and weights.
And with the promise of two each at this year’s event in Manchester, coaches Andy Clayton and Brian Murphy were keen to put the duo forward.
However, the Northbank Avenue club are now £800 out of pocket while Daniel, 80kg, and Chloe, 52kg, have failed to gain any competitive action ahead of British title fights next month.
Andy, who has been a boxing coach for 22 years, explained: “It was a total shambles.
“Daniel McMurray has been especially hard to match up because of his size and weight so we thought this was a good opportunity for him to get fights under his belt.
“We were waiting all day until 6pm on the Saturday and nobody had told us anything.
“And then Brian went up to ask one of the officials if they had any fights lined up on the day or Sunday and he was told nobody was in there in their categories.
“With accommodation, we are £800 down which is a lot for a wee club.
“Danny and Chloe have the three-nations tournament in May and this would have been good preparation for them.”
Coach Brian insists O’Neils will not be returning.
He added: “In all my 30 years as a boxing coach I have never experienced such a badly organised event.
“We were told Chloe’s opponent was 52kg so Chloe would have to go down in weight to match it. But when we got there we were told her opponent was 54kg.
“In the case of Daniel, other clubs pulled their boxers out because they got fed up of waiting so he had nobody to fight and he was guaranteed two fights.
“It cost the club hundreds of pounds to come here to not get a contest.”
Organisers of the Golden Gloves responded to “unfortunate negativity and array of incorrect slanderous social media posts” by removing their Facebook and Twitter platforms and issued the following statement: “It is with deep regret and disappointment that the second day of the event has been cancelled.
“The intention of the UK Golden Gloves Box Cup was to provide young boxers with a platform to compete in an exciting and sustainable tournament. Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond our control and in the interests of the safety of the participants, officials and staff, the collaborative decision of all stakeholders to cut short and cancel day two, regrettably had to be taken.
“UK Golden Gloves Box Cup are deeply disappointed and saddened that what could have been an enjoyable and positive event has ended and express gratitude and apologise for any inconvenience to those clubs, participants, officials and spectators who tried their upmost to make the event a success.”