Royal Navy boxer takes tribute trophy

Royal Navy boxer Luke Fisher won the inaugural Tony Oxley Trophy as the Senior Service took on Southern Counties fighters.

The ET(ME) from HMS Daring beat Andrea Rufolo in the light-welterweight contest to take the trophy, which was awarded in memory of the Commonwealth Games and Royal Navy boxer who died last year.

A trio of world champions were on hand to witness the clash at the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Ex-Boxer Association’s dinner.

They were joined by hundreds of fans of the noble art at the Pyramids in Portsmouth treated to some top-drawer amateur contests across seven bouts.

Boxing greats Terry Marsh, Richie Woodhall and John Conteh all travelled to be at the event.

The dinner show was last staged in 2011 between the Navy and Southern Counties, with a number of other select matches also previously hosted.

Association event organiser Alan Dolman said: “It really was an excellent evening of boxing. We had seven bouts in the end, but I’d rather have seven decent bouts than 10 rubbish ones.

“They were all really evenly matched and it was difficult to pick winners. John, Richie and Terry were all there and were impressed with what they saw.

“Luke was in the top bout of the evening and was really proud to win the trophy. All of Tony’s family were there – and he would have been proud, too.”