Olympic and Commonwealth gold medallists join the Mayor of London to support fundraising project at historic ‘Ringside on the River Terrace’ event in Westminster
By GB Boxing Media and Sonny Murgatroyd
Tokyo Olympic gold medallists, Lauren Price and Galal Yafai, and three of the GB Boxing squad that won gold at the recent 2026 Commonwealth Games, Patris Mughalzai, Isaac Okoh and Damar Thomas were among the guest speakers at the historic ‘Ringside on the River Terrace’ event in the Palace of Westminster on Thursday night.
The event was part of the ‘Night of Solidarity’ project that aims to celebrate the unifying power of sport and raise funds for The Fire Fighters Charity and community sports groups in areas around North Kensington that were affected by the Grenfell Tower tragedy nearly a decade ago.
A website for ‘A Night of Solidarity’ has been set-up along with a fundraising page where people can donate money HERE.
‘Ringside on The River Terrace’ was the first of three events that make-up the project and was attended by more than 180 people from sport, politics, business and charities, and hosted by the BBC’s former boxing correspondent, Mike Costello.
It included a speech from the Mayor of London, Sir Sadiq Khan, and contributions from representatives and participants of the London Fire Brigade Boxing Club and community sports groups in North Kensington.
These were followed by a questions and answer session with GB Boxing’s Performance Director, Rob McCracken and the Olympic and Commonwealth medallists from the World Class Programme.
The speeches and interviews ended with with the world-renowned sportswriter, Thomas Hauser, who wrote what is widely considered to be the definitive biography on Muhammad Ali.
The historic event was the first time ever that a full-sized boxing ring has seen action in the Palace of Westminster, and ‘Ringside on the River Terrace’ concluded with a demonstration of sparring by more than 20 youth boxers from nine clubs across London, featuring commentary by Sky Sports’ Andy Clarke.
In his speech, The Mayor of London, Sir Sadiq Khan Khan (whose brother is the Head Coach of Earlsfield Boxing Club) paid tribute to the community groups in North Kensington for their work in the aftermath of the Grenfell tragedy and talked about his memories and personal experience of boxing and his recognition that it can deliver positive impacts for people and communities.
He said: “I still remember the day I first walked into the Earlsfield Boxing Club in Tooting, just down the road from the council estate where I grew up. My brothers had been fighting for years, and I was finally old enough to join them.
“I wasn’t the most talented fighter, my brothers were much better than me, but in that club I found a community that could teach me some important life lessons about the importance of discipline, hard work, and respect for others.”
On the role of boxing in the aftermath of Grenfell, the Mayor added: “I wasn’t surprised to see that, in the aftermath of one of the darkest days in London’s history, it was to our sport that grieving Londoners turned.
“I remember visiting the Dale Youth club’s new home back in 2018, built just over a year after it was destroyed in the fire. Many of the young people there had lost everything. And yet – in the ring – they’d been given hope. A chance to recover. To rebuild. To escape from the present, and to dream once again about what their future might hold.
“For me, that story sums up the immense power of the work you do. Your communities had taken a hit. Those young people had been knocked down. But, with your help, they got back up – and they carried on. You didn’t just teach them how to fight. You taught them the importance of discipline, humility, and respect – how to be magnanimous in victory, and dignified and defeat. And you’re still doing it today – imbuing young Londoners with the fighting spirit of our great city. You’re creating champions, inside and outside the ring.”
Tokyo Olympic gold medallist, Galal Yafai said: “This is an amazing project that is trying to do something positive after the awful tragedy that happened.
“It’s great that everyone has had the chance to come to Westminster, which is a great place to be. I am here because GB Boxing asked me and I think it is important to give something back to both people that have helped me, but also to the sport and the communities from which we all come.
“Me and my two brothers have taken over our old club in Birmingham which we run for the community. Even though we have won Olympic medals and had success in the sport, it’s important we do stuff like that and support events like this where we can hopefully help to inspire some of the younger people coming through.”
Commonwealth Games gold medallist and current member of the GB Boxing squad, Patris Mughalzai added: “This is a great event and I wanted to support it because, as someone from West London that is now a GB Boxer, I hope the young kids can look up to me and think they can do the same.
“I always wanted to be a GB boxer when I was young and looked up to people like Galal Yafai. I hope that seeing us, helps to motivate the young boxers that are here tonight and makes them think they can do the same and go on to win Commonwealth and Olympic medals.”
The ‘Night of Solidarity’ project is being delivered by a collection of partners and is led and co-ordinated by Baron Roe of West Wickham (Andy Roe), who is a former Commissioner of the London Fire Brigade and a member of the GB Boxing board.
Speaking after the event, Andy Roe said: “I think the night has been brilliant because it’s embodied everything I know about boxing. It is people coming together; it is people supporting a fantastic set of causes and showing unity and solidarity with that common endeavour.
“To stand in the same room as Olympic and Commonwealth gold medallists, and world champions, was just fantastic and the way the boxers just engaged with everyone on their level was brilliant and unbelievably motivating. I can’t thank GB Boxing enough for the support they are giving tonight and at the next stage of the project.
“I am really pleased that this has gone so well, but it’s important that we continue to raise money so that is the main long-term aim.”
The next phase of the project will take place in October 2026 when a group of male and female boxers from clubs in north west London, will visit Great Britain’s Olympic boxing programme at the English Institute of Sport (EIS) in Sheffield where they will have the chance to meet members of the GB Boxing squad and train alongside the men and women that hope to represent Team GB at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
Finally, ‘A Night of Solidarity’ will take place on Friday 13 November 2026 at Kensington Town Hall when a select team from the London Fire Brigade (LFB) Boxing Club will compete against a North Kensington team, made-up of men, women and youth boxers from clubs in the local area and across London, over 12 bouts of Olympic-style boxing.
‘A Night of Solidarity’ is being delivered with the help of the LFB, Gerda Security Products and iVB Boxing and is supported by GB Boxing, England Boxing, London Boxing, Armz House and the LFB Boxing Club. The charities and organisations that will be supported by the project are: MO1 Youths, Armz House, Fit for Life Youth. Power Hub, All for One Community Club, United Against Violence, KOTG, The Dalgarno Trust and the Firefighter’s Charity.
Donations of support to ‘A Night of Solidarity’ can be made at the JustGiving page for ‘A Night of Solidarity’.