A PAIR of boxers from York's Legions Gym are heading to Ireland to compete in what describes itself as "the world's most prestigious female-only boxcup".

Paris Smith, a 12-year-old pupil at Archbishop Holgate's CE Academy, and 21-year-old Sophie Sellers will travel to Lucan, County Dublin, for the competition over the weekend.

For last year's edition of the comp, the largest of its type in Europe, there were just under 400 registered boxers.

Legions Gym's head boxing coach, Ashley Martin, said: "Both girls have trained like animals for this tournament.

"Paris is coming off the back of a stoppage victory last week over one of last year’s National Schoolgirl finalists.

"With female boxing on the up currently, these two girls have really bright futures ahead of them."