The finals of the Riviera Box Cup will be streamed live on Sky Sports on August 17.
The search for the sport’s stars of the future continues this summer on the Devon coast, following on from Sky Sports broadcasting another prestigious amateur tournament, the Manchester Box Cup in May.
This event in the English Riviera will showcase amateur boxing talents from the region and further afield. Some of the country’s top clubs are sending teams and international entrants will be competing too.
The Riviera Box Cup first started in 2019 and has rapidly grown in popularity and scale since its founding.
Mike Reardon and Darrell Asplen, who runs Torbay amateur boxing club, set up the event. They founded the competition to provide opportunities for boxers in the region.
“Before there was nothing in amateur boxing for the Western Counties clubs without having to travel six hours up the motorway. We set it up and it’s gone through the roof, it’s just completely took off,” Reardon said.
“We named it after Darrell’s dad, Sid Asplen who used to run the Riviera boxing club in Torbay back in the 60s and 70s. So it was really to honour his dad who’d done a lot for Devon boxing and local boxing. That’s how the Box Cup came about. It was just to give the local kids here the opportunity.
“It just grew from there. We didn’t know we’d do it multiple years,” he added. “The first one was the year before Covid, then Covid struck and no one was boxing and actually we were the first event in amateur boxing to get the go ahead coming out of lockdown.
“It took off from then really,” Reardon explained. “The demand’s huge, I think because of where we are in the country, which is the English Riviera, so right on the sea front and the time of year we do it.”
Sky Sports‘ Ed Robinson said: “We had a great reaction to our recent coverage of the Manchester Box Cup. Now we turn our attention to shining a light on another well established, exciting international tournament with the Riviera Box Cup.
“Our thanks go to all the team at the Box Cup and to England Boxing.”
Amateur boxing almost always produces exciting, closely contested bouts
The power of amateur boxing
Frazer Clarke, an Olympic medallist and now professional fighter, as well as being a Sky Sports pundit, still follows the amateur scene closely.
He explained the power of amateur boxing.
“It’s pure,” Clarke told Sky Sports. “There’s a lot of people who have done it out of their own pocket, a lot of people not earning any money, they do it because they’re trying to better youngsters’ lives, keep them on the straight and narrow, give them a goal to work to. So I enjoy that.”
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As well as that, he wants to watch the future of the sport unfold. “I also know that the next pay-per-view star is in front of us somewhere,” Clarke said. “In 10 years’ time, 15 years’ time, we will watch one of these at Wembley or at Tottenham in a massive fight, for a world title.
“They’re amongst us, they’re walking past us. I love that element of it,” he added. “You just don’t know it.
“Not just that. These guys train hard, when you see the joy, when you see the tears, you know what it means to them. You’ve got to respect it.”
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