Barry punches weight at top event

Barry Buchanan won two matches to reach the final in the under-67 kilos open class of the Haringey Box Cup at Alexandra Palace.

West Hill head coach Dave Bishop said: “It’s a tough competition, probably the toughest competition in Europe, and he made the final. He did the club proud to be honest.”

Buchanan began his campaign last Thursday with a unanimous points victory over Claudio Paulo, a good 19-year-old from the renowned Peacock Gym in London.

He got off to a slower start in his semi-final against Dan Woodward (Islington) the following day and was around three points behind on the judges’ scorecards after the first three rounds, but came on strong in the last.

That put him through to Sunday’s final against Craig Callaghan, of the Liverpool-based Sefton ABC. Callaghan pursued a professional career in the United States last year and is a former ABA Senior Novice champion.

Callaghan, a very tall and strong boxer, just pipped Buchanan to the punch all the way through, but Bishop felt that his charge, who looked a little jaded, could have won had he performed as well as he had previously.

The full article will appear in Friday’s Hastings Observer.