Haringey Police Boxing Club founder Gerry Willmott receives Henry Cooper award
Haringey Police Boxing Club founder and coach Gerry Willmott MBE was recognised for his services to women’s boxing at a star-studded event at the Lancaster Hotel last week.
Willmott was presented with the prestigious Henry Cooper award by Hampstead heavyweight Dereck Chisora at the Annual Charity Boxing Dinner, which has the Ham&High as a media partner.
Haringey have been trailblazers in the world of women’s boxing and Nicola Adams was registered with the club when she won gold at the 2012 London Olympics.
More recently, 23-year-old Oriance Lungu won the national senior women’s ABA title in the Class C 63.5kg category.
Meanwhile, the annual Haringey Box Cup, which is hosted by Haringey Police ABC at Alexandra Palace, gives invaluable experience to female fighters, often pitting them against international opponents. Indeed, Adams won a gold medal at the event in 2009.
Commenting on his award, Willmott said: “It was very much appreciated and very unexpected.
“We’ve been keen to develop women’s boxing, especially with the Box Cup. There were about 60 girls competing last year.
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“We’ve got half a dozen girls from the age of 13 up to Oriance, who is 23. She won again on Monday at a club show in Woking.
“Nicola was obviously quite good already and we were fortunate that she came down [from Leeds] to join us. She just needed that bit of experience.
“Women’s boxing has been getting better. The Olympics helped, I think the women’s boxing was better than people thought it would be, and they were impressed by Nicola and Katie Taylor.”
