Declan Taylor: Haringey Box Cup returns to Alexandra Palace

The 17th Haringey Box Cup takes place at Alexandra Palace this weekend with roughly 500 amateur boxers from 14 countries competing in the Great Hall, a venue that has become synonymous with Britain's most prestigious open tournament.

Anthony Joshua captured the super-heavyweight division twice at the event, in 2009 and 2010. Katie Taylor won her bracket in 2010 and earned Best Female Boxer honors, two years before taking Olympic gold in London. Joshua, who still attends as a spectator, called Haringey "the must-do event for aspiring professionals," according to The Ring Magazine.

Why Alexandra Palace makes the tournament special

Tournament organizer Brian John, head coach at Haringey Boxing Club, believes the 1873-built Great Hall provides the magic. "The venue is what gives it that little bit of magic," John told The Ring. "Unless we took it somewhere like the Royal Albert Hall, I don't think there's another venue out there that would have the prestige that we do now." John said the event keeps growing despite now being in its 17th year, with pros regularly listing it on their resumes. This year's field includes boxers from Canada, Italy, Portugal, Belgium and Holland alongside domestic entries.

The three-day competition begins Friday afternoon and runs through Sunday's finals, with some competitors boxing three times in as many days. Past winners include Chris Eubank Jr, Nicola Adams and Anthony Yarde. John handles the inevitable wave of late withdrawals from the 560-plus entries, a familiar challenge for anyone involved in amateur boxing at this scale.

Separately, John and Richards' team are appealing Lerrone Richards' split-decision loss to Albert Ramirez for the WBA interim heavyweight/" class="internal-link text-bone underline decoration-ash/30 hover:decoration-gold underline-offset-2">light-heavyweight title to the sanctioning body, asking for either a no-contest ruling or an immediate rematch. The competition wraps Sunday with finals across all weight classes.

Source: ringmagazine.com