Gold for NACs champs Holmes and Ngamba representing GB in Hungary

GB Boxing won seven medals, including two golds, at the recent Bocksai tournament in Debrecen, Hungary.

Olivia Holmes and Cindy Ngamba – both England Boxing National Amateur Championships winners in 2021 (and 2022 in the latter’s case) – were crowned champions in their weight classes while Demie-Jade Resztan, Hannah Robinson and Patrick Brown all earned silver.

Scotland’s Commonwealth Games gold medallist, Sam Hickey, and England’s Ike Ogbo returned with bronze medals.

For Holmes, who boxes for Liverpool’s Rotunda ABC, it was a tournament to remember as the 20-year-old won four bouts to secure gold in her first international tournament since joining the GB Boxing squad at the end of 2022.

The featherweight (57kg) defeated Dea Bolaca (Croatia), Saniya Sultankzy (Kazakhstan) and Tina Rahimi (Australia) on route to the final where she unanimously outpointed the host nation’s Szabina Szucs to seal her first senior international gold medal.

Holmes was joined on the top of the podium by Bolton’s Cindy Ngamba (Haliwell) who took gold in the women’s light middleweight division (70kg) following victories over Balzhan Askar of Kazakhstan and Nikolina Gajic from Serbia.

In the minimum weight division (48kg), Cambridge’s Demie-Jade Resztan, was back in action for the first time since earning a bronze medal at last year’s European Championships.  Competing for the first time in 2023, Resztan won her semi-final with Aigerim Sattibayeva but was outpointed by Argentina’s world championship bronze medallist, Aldana Floerncia, in her final.

She was joined on the podium by Darlington’s Hannah Robinson who completed an impressive showing from Great Britain’s women with a silver medal in the light-welterweight (66kg) category.

In the men’s tournament Manchester’s, Patrick Brown, recorded victories over boxers from Ukraine and Germany but had to settle for silver when an injury meant he was not able to take his place in the heavyweight (92kg) final.

Competing in his first tournament since moving up to light-heavyweight (80kg), Dundee’s Sam Hickey won a bronze medal.  His achievement was matched by English super-heavyweight (92kg+), Ike Ogbo.  The Birmingham-based Doctor, who competes for Carlisle’s Border City ABC, won bronze in his first outing since joining the GB Boxing squad in December 2022.

Flyweight Hamza Mehmood, featherweight Billy Adams, light-welterweight Joe Tyers and light-heavyweight George Crotty were also in action in Debrecen, but all exited their respective contests at the preliminary stages.