World Boxing Challenge / Eindhoven Box Cup, Netherlands

World Boxing Challenge / Eindhoven Box Cup, Netherlands 

May 18-20

All 12 of our boxers representing Australia at the 2024 Paris Olympics this year attended the World Boxing Challenge / Eindhoven Box Cup, the Netherlands’ largest Olympic boxing event. Held from 18-20 May, the event consisted of more than 150 boxers from 16 countries. The tournament provided another great opportunity for our fighters to test themselves against the best in the world and take part in their last international competition before Paris.

The nine of our fighters who competed in the tournament all walked away from Eindhoven with a medal whilst seven competed for gold making it to the final bout of the Cup. 

Tiana Echegaray (W54kg) and Tina Rahimi (W60kg) picked up bronze medals in their respective brackets. Both fought against high-level Brazilian fighters Tatiana Chagas and Beatriz Ferreira in great tests, building on skills and experience. 

Marissa Williamson Pohlman (W66kg) recorded comfortable unanimous victories against Germany’s Nadine Forse and France’s Sisley Tatoguem Wabo to book herself into the gold medal bout against former African champion and World Championship medallist Imane Khelif. Marissa was defeated in the final by the Algerian fighter, managing to win silver and finish second in her weight class. 

Charlie Senior (M57kg) also won silver at the event, defeating Dutch athlete Mahmoud Alchabtun in a split decision to reach the final. Charlie lost in a rematch from last month’s USA invitational in Pueblo, Colorado against Brazilian Luiz Oliveira who won his second international tournament in a row. 

Monique Suraci (W54kg) went one better than her silver medal triumph at the USA invitational, capturing gold after winning three fights in three days. Monique beat England’s Ivy Jane Smith and Mongolia’s Michidmaa Erdenedalai on her path to the final. She also avenged Australian teammate Tiana’s loss, beating Brazilian Tatiana Chagas to win the event.

Shannan Davey (M71kg) won the second international tournament of his career after two unanimous decision victories over Germany’s Michael Siemens and the Netherlands’ Zekaria Elhaij. Shannan was crowned the gold medal via walkover after Chinese Taipei fighter Kan Chia Wei withdrew before the final. 

Caitlin Parker (W75kg) added to her illustrious set of accolades winning gold as she’ll hope to replicate this success in a few months’ time at her second-straight Olympics. Two dominant performances, Caitlin beat Nouhajla Largate from the Netherlands and Germany’s Ilvy Scheibe in comfortable fashion. 

Callum Peters (M80kg) delivered three immense performances to win his last competitive event before his debut Olympics in Paris. After unanimously beating Frenchman Frank Fortue in his first bout, Callum forced German Vitaly Walter’s corner to abandon after the first round. In the final he beat Brazilian World Championship silver medallist Wanderley Pereira who knocked Callum out of the tournament in Uzbekistan last year. Callum has now won three fights in a row against Pereira after also beating him twice at the AIS combat centre in Canberra during the international challenge event two months ago.

Teremoana Teremoana (M92+kg) solidified his status as a firm gold medal favourite for this year’s Olympics after winning the Cup’s heavyweight category. He stopped Algerian Mourad Kadi in the first round, winning by knockout to secure his place in the final. Teremoana was awarded the gold after Brazilian Abner Teixeira pulled out, officially winning through walkover. 

After two bronzes, two silvers and five gold medals, the Australian team finished 2nd overall on the final team rankings for the event and left Eindhoven having displayed exceptional skills and represented the country proudly in competitive preparation for Paris. 

Boxing Australia would like to thank World Boxing and Dutch Boxing Federation for hosting and organising the event. We also thank our partners Australian Sports Commission, Australian Institute of Sport, Australian Olympic Committee, Combat Institute of Australia, and Commonwealth Games Australia for their ongoing support towards our high-performance program. 

The squad now travels to Sheffield, United Kingdom for more intensive training as the next time our team competes will be at the end of July in Paris for the Olympic Games.