Frank Bruno and Barry McGuigan were also at the event along with over 4,000 members of the Armed Forces and their families.
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The Royal Albert Hall hosted US and UK Armed Forces battling it out in the boxing ring last night.
Over 4,000 members of the Armed Forces and their families attended the Hall’s testosterone-charged event organised by charity Tickets for Troops.
Frank Bruno and Barry McGuigan were also there supporting our men throughout the nine brutal bouts of boxing.
The bar was set for the evening by UK amateur army boxer Shamim Khan who won the first bout.
The US frantically fought back and US Marine Corp boxer Joseph Canale beat our RAF man Chris Smith.
The event was only Canale’s third ever bout but he said he was happy he’d experienced it in the UK.
“I’ve never been to Europe or England but the venue’s beautiful. It’s like a castle. The atmosphere’s great but the people are rowdy over here,” he said.
After the fourth bout the the UK and US had two wins each under their belt and a contentious decision given in favour of the US in the fifth, upped the ante in the Hall.
Mark Truslove came back fighting for the UK and the audience witnessed their first knock out of the evening in the third round.
The UK lost the penultimate battle but in the final bout our man Adam Whitfield came through to eruptions of cheers and boot stamping for the UK to win the war.
The Royal Albert Hall Cup, sponsored by Holt’s Military Banking, was organised for Tickets for Troops by Frank Warren, who last promoted any boxing at the Hall over 10 years ago.
Tickets for Troops arrange entertainment and sporting events for members of the forces to attend for free.
Last night’s event was the biggest put on so far by the charity.
Major Ubaka, Chairman of UK Royal Marines Boxing said: “I’ve been to a few of these events but this is by far the best location by a long way. What an evening.”
