Amateur boxers gathered on Friday night for a sold-out event in aid of a charity in memory of James Bulger.
IWA Boxing hosted their eighth event, this time focusing on raising money for the James Bulger Memorial Trust. The fights took place at Liverpool nightclub Fusion on Fleet Street.
Kirsty Lucas, events organiser for IWA, told JMU Journalism: “We locked out after 27 minutes. We opened the door to Fleet Street and we literally could not move.”
Around £4,000 was raised by the 30 boxing newcomers, £3,500 was allocated to the James Bulger trust whilst around £800 was raised for various other charities.
Each contestant chose a charity, then set up JustGiving pages and produced sponsorship forms for the event. The 30 participants were then paired up for their three-rounds of boxing.
Carl Thompson, a Manchester boxer who knocked out David Hay in 2004, arrived at the gym before the event to give the boxers a pep-talk. He is currently filming a documentary in Liverpool about his boxing career.
Anton Major, winner of his fight and the prize for raising the most money, told JMU Journalism: “It was a fantastic experience and I would 100% recommend taking part to anyone. It is my best achievement to date by far.”
The prize for the best fundraiser won a signed glove from WBC International Heavyweight Champion, Anthony Joshua. James Bulger’s mother, Denise Fergus, presented the glove to Major after he raised £1,120 for James.
Organisers of the event had to swap people in and out at every fight so families could see their loved ones try their luck in the ring.
IWA run five boxing shows a year and the next event takes place on April 29th. They are now looking for keen new boxers to sign up to the next round of fights.