International Boxing and Black Tie Dinner

It’s one of the fiercest rivalries in sport – but the gloves were definitely on rather than off as England took on Germany at this year’s Rotary Club of Basingstoke Deane International Boxing Night.   

This annual charity event has become one of the highlights of the Basingstoke events calendar, and the 16th tournament lived up to the high standards that have become synonymous with this successful event.    eld at The Hampshire Court Hotel, in Chineham, last Friday, 350 guests enjoyed an evening of high-quality contests as some of England’s finest young pugilists took on their German counterparts in a seven-bout contest.

Twenty-three organisations hosted tables at the prestigious charity event – and the evening saw a victory for the England team and also the local good causes that are supported by the hard-working Rotarians.

Many of the seven bouts were close-fought contests but England’s boxers emerged victorious in five of the fights with their German opponents recording two victories.    Five of the bouts featured male competitors while two involved female boxers.   England’s Carl Fail turned in the most dominant performance of the evening and this earned him the Best Boxer accolade.

Paul Temple, President of The Rotary Club of Basingstoke Deane, said: “This was another excellent Rotary Boxing event, and my fellow Rotarians and I are delighted that more than £6,000 was raised for local good causes.     “I would particularly like to thank the Champion Group and Southern Communications, who are the main sponsors of the event, the bout sponsors and advertisers, and all of the organisations who sponsored and hosted the tables. I would also like to thank England Boxing and their German counterparts for providing such a great evening of entertainment.”

A grand draw and auction helped to swell the charity coffers, and Temple said that Ark Cancer Centre Charity will be the main recipient of the proceeds from the event.

The Rotary Club of Basingstoke Deane in January made a donation of £10,000 to the charity and has decided to focus much of this year’s fundraising towards the good cause, which is raising £5million towards a unique local cancer treatment centre.