Cindy Ngamba, Ramtin Musah and other Olympic hopefuls star at World Boxing Cup: GB Open in Sheffield
Cindy Ngamba, a sparring partner of Natasha Jonas, Savannah Marshall and Lauren Price, stood out when beating former Olympian and World gold medallist Atheyna Bylon to win the 75kgs tournament at the World Boxing Cup: GB Open; Ramtin Musah edged out GB rival George Crotty at light-heavy
Sunday 21 January 2024 13:59, UK
Cindy Ngamba, an athlete on the Fair Chance refugee team, was one of the gold medallists to star the World Boxing Cup: GB Open in Sheffield.
A new tournament, organised by World Boxing, the GB Open featured international and British boxers hoping to mark themselves out ahead of the Olympic Games later this year.
Ngamba trains with the GB squad, but the Cameroonian refugee has not yet been granted citizenship and so cannot represent Great Britain.
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She is however still pursuing her Olympic dream and hoping to qualify for Paris 2024 as a boxer on the Fair Chance refugee team.
Ngamba performed at the World Boxing Cup, securing the middleweight gold medal and recording a good win over Panama's Atheyna Bylon, an Olympian and former world champion, in the final.
"I'm just getting better and better and relaxing when I'm in there," Ngamba said afterwards.
"Lauren [Price] messaged me yesterday and told me to relax because she knows what I can be like because I've shared the ring with her so many times in sparring and I've learned a lot from her. Like when she hits me with a good shot, I feel it and think 'I should be doing that too!'
"I've shared that ring today with the best of the best at this tournament so I'm happy I've got the win.
"But that's not me done, I've still got lots of goals and ambitions to tick off this year including qualifying for the Olympics."
GB light-heavyweight Ramtin Musah also impressed with his gold medal win. He reached the 80kgs final and came up against team-mate and seasoned international George Crotty.
There was little to separate them in an excellently contested bout. The two went into the last round with the result hanging in the balance and it was Musah who edged out his rival on a split decision.
"It feels amazing, I'm over the moon, I'm buzzing. Just everything!" Musah said.
"All props to George he is a very tricky customer. I was down in the first round, pulled it back and then kept on digging deep and came out with the win.
"I've got massive amounts of confidence and proves to me that I'm at the top of my game and I'm showing every time that I'm improving. Two golds back to back and this is a great start to the year."
Like 80kgs, light-middleweight will be a tremendously competitive division within the GB squad alone. Lewis Richardson might well have put himself in the reckoning there too, having dropped down from middleweight to 71kgs and picked up a silver medal.
He boxed well in the final too, though lost the decision to Denmark's Nikolai Terteryan. The Dane though is a European Games medallist already qualified for the Paris Olympics, so a top class opponent.
Other 2024 Olympians didn't reach the final. Super-heavyweight Delicious Orie was edged out by Germany's Nelvie Tiafack, a European gold medallist like Orie, in the opening stage.
63.5kgs also featured two GB boxers in the final, with Patris Mughalzai beating Joe Tyers.
Heavyweight Pat Brown looked devastating in the semi-final when he forced a stoppage against Adam Olaore, an England Boxing national champion representing Nigeria. The Mancunian then won gold by walkover.
Flyweight Kiaran MacDonald and lightweight Shona Whitwell are both working towards selection for their second Olympic qualifier and both were gold medallists in Sheffield.
Whitwell defeated England's Lucy Kings-Wheatley to win the 60kgs competition.
MacDonald outpointed Germany's Salah Ibrahim on a split decision in the final.
"It feels extra special. Losing out in the Olympic bout at the European Games was devastating and I've built a lot of resilience from that, and I've almost rebuilt myself into a new version ahead of the next qualifying event which I hope to be selected for," MacDonald said.
GB performance director Rob McCracken said: "This event has showcased some of the best in Olympic boxing for Sheffield to enjoy and ultimately for the GB Boxers to benefit from a variety of styles and top international competition.
"That is what it is all about, especially at the start of an Olympic year with Paris just over six months away."
