HARWICH boxing club broke new ground by visiting the shores of Ireland for the first time to take part in the Monkstown Box Cup in Dublin.

Light heavyweight, Pt Alen Cipps drew a straight final in the under 19-years category against Kelyn Cassidy from Waterford.

The bout proved to be a terrific crowd pleaser.

Cassidy threw effective punches in bursts, however, Allen Cripps was equal to this and settled into a nice boxing rhythm.

The Irishman suffered a nose bleed in the second round, however, every time Allen Cripps got into his stride, the referee stopped the contest to inspect the nose damage on three separate occasions.

That allowed Cassidy to regroup and relaunch his attacks.

After three pulsating rounds, Cassidy nicked a tight split points decision, leaving Allen Cripps with silver.

In a under 48kg boys' quarter-final, Stevie Martin had the toughest of draws facing national champion and England international Aaron Vaughan from Liverpool.

Martin, took the first with a new found aggressive approach, but Vaughn came back well in the second and little separated the two in the last, with Vaughan eventually taking the spoils on a split points decision.

The Harwich boxer proved he could mix it with the best and that was demonstrated by Vaughan going on to win gold and be judged the best overall boxer from a tournament that attracted more than 900 fighters.