SOME of England and Ireland’s top amateur boxers wowed the crowds at the Rotary Club of Basingstoke Deane’s annual charity event.

The event, which took place in the tennis arena at The Hampshire Court Hotel, in Chineham, last Friday, saw high-level amateur boxing come to Basingstoke for the 15th consecutive year.

England enjoyed a comprehensive 6-1 victory over Ireland in the ring, but charity was the real winner, with almost £10,000 being raised on the night.

Paul Temple, president elect of the Rotary Club of Basingstoke Deane, who organised the event, said: “It was a great evening. There was a fantastic atmosphere and Hampshire Court did a brilliant job of setting the whole place up. It was transformed overnight into a really good arena.

“Our target is always to raise five figures from the event. We may be a couple of pounds under that, but we will go close to raising £10,000, all of which will go to charity.”

A crowd of 350, including Keith Walters, the president of the Amateur Boxing Association, attended the event.

More than a quarter of the money raised came from a single-lot auction, with a two-week holiday in Florida, donated by Toucan Travel, fetching £2,600. A grand draw raised a further £2,500, with prizes donated by, among others, Basingstoke College of Technology and The Hampshire Court Hotel.

Temple added: “A lot of man hours go into putting it all together and I would like to thank everyone who helped and Southern Communications, who were our main sponsor.

“We are planning to do it again next year, but I haven’t started thinking about that yet.”