Boxing

Glasgow SEC Arena

29th July 2026

The 2026 Glasgow Commonwealth Games has sorta, like for many folks I would guess, crept up on me.

It was partly the World Cup of course, which would have hoovered up a lot of any sport-enthusiast's attention.  But also the fact fact Glasgow had stepped in more-or-less at the last moment, to host a stripped down (no badminton, rugby sevens or field hockey amongst others) games, which had all helped to lend a decidedly low-key build-up to the event.

But, nevertheless, I felt, at least in the spirit of patriotism, I should attend at least one day.

So, I sat down and drew up a tententive schedule for Day Seven of the business, wherein I would attend weight lifting, boxing, netball and bowls, before rounding off the day with an evening of athletics/parathletics.

I, however, balked at the damn-near £200 cost of the five tickets, so instead decided upon my own and personal "compact and low scale Games".

Consequently, I jettisoned the weightlifting and netball altogether, and began my day by attending the boxing session in Hall 5 of the SEC Centre.

Here we got 14 quarter-final bouts across a range of seven weight categories - 6 in the women's events, followed by 8 in the men's.

The first two bouts were in the women's 51kg (8 stones) category - each between tiny waifs, who struggled to lay a punch of any power on their opponent.  Nevertheless it was obvious early on in each quarter-final who was the superior boxer, and we watched Niamh Brooks of Wales, then Caitlyn Friars of Northern Ireland eliminated.

Amber-Jane Wall of Canada v Niamh Brooks (red)

Amber-Jane Wall of Canada v Niamh Brooks (red)

Sakshi Chaudhary of Indonesia, takes some evasive action to
get away from NI boxer Caitlyn Fryers (red).

The 57kg (9st) lassies were next, and we saw the first closely contested encounter of the session, as the wonderfully-named Jasmine Duamakanakana of Fiji edged past her Sri Lankan opponent Keshani Hansika.

Jasmine Duamakanakana of Fiji, after her win

 A great roar then greeted the arrival of Scottish boxer Lara Brown, but she was, in the end, well-beaten by the experienced Michaela Walsh, who had won gold at the 2022 games in Birmingham.

Lara Brown

Lara Brown

 

Moving up to the 70kg (11st) class, we encountered South Africa's Samukilisiwe Ncube - the first boxer we had seen with, lets be frank here, an ample bosom.  Which did set me to wondering if punching an opponent on the breasts - which I would imagine to be particularly painful - was allowed in female boxing.  A quick visit to Chat GPT informed me:   

"While female boxers can hit the chest area legally, the combination of protective gear, sensitivity, and sportsmanship generally prevents intentional punches directly to the breasts."

Not that Ncube's opponent, Wales' Rosie Eccles (another 2022 gold medal winner) had to resort to such tactics.  Heeding the yelling of her countryman next to me who exhorted her to "Box, Rosie, Box", she effortlessly landed punch after punch on her flailing opponent.  So much so, the ref stopped the contest, not long after the South African had been knocked to the floor.

Earlier India's Arundhati Choudhary had won a close fought contest with New Zealander Morgan Henderson, in the other 70kg quarter-final.

Samukilisiwe Ncube (in blue) takes on Wales' Rosie Eccles.

Ncube, whilst protecting those breasts...

...was unable to protect her chin...

...and down she went.

A delighted Rosie Eccles, after her win.

 And, so to the chaps - although we only got 7 of the 8 scheduled bouts, as a Ghanaian boxer had to withdraw from his match.

As with the ladies' contests, many of the matchups appeared a touch one-sided; and we saw a number of 5-0 victories i.e. all five ringside judges voting for the same competitor.

Scot Nicky Devlin was one of those well-beaten - in his case by Welshman Owain Harris-Allan; a previous games medal winner.

Nicky Devlin, in red.

 

 Another boxer from the principality, Owain Harris-Allan was involved in the only KO we saw this session, when he bashed his opponent Refiloe Thai from Lesotho not only to the floor, but almost out the ring.  There was a concerned hush around the venue, as the medical bods initially brought out a stretcher - but, thankfully, the poor lad soon got to his feet, and was able to exit the arena unaided.

It was only at this point, it dawned upon me the male boxers were not wearing helmets, which they certainly had at the London Olympics back in 2012.

The Fall...

and Rise of Refiloe Thai

Jade Micock (Seychelles) v Ankush Ankush of India (in red)

 In fact, the only really contest we saw in the mens' bouts was that in the 90kg plus (14st plus) category, where India's Narender Berwal managed a 3-2 split decision victory over Michael Seko of Samoa.  Mind you, Berwal hardly helped his cause by being given two single point deductions for general naughtiness.

Berwal v Seko

I noted I had seen Indian boxers compete in five of the seven weight categories in this session - and all had won.  I had not quite appreciated that the sport at amateur level was so strong in India. 

The final bout of the afternoon was a fine encounter.  Togo's Ramzi Salifou started well, and was ahead after the first round.  But his opponent, 37-year old Nigel Paul representing Trinidan & Tobago, ground him down thereafter, ending the contest 5-0 ahead on the judges' scorecards.

Paul (in red) and Salifou embrace at the end of their bout.

 

So - I freely acknowledge I know feck all about boxing, other than being able to recognise when someone or other is taking a severe panelling.  But, were I a betting man (which, I admit, I occasionally am) I think I could do worse than placing a double on both Michaela Walsh and Narender Berwal to pick up gold medals in their respective categories.