BAILEY TAKES DOWNS
Matt Bozeat sees the Midlands stage of the England Boxing Elite championships begin
THE best bout when the Elite championships got underway at the Town Hall was at 64kgs where Dwain Bailey (Jawaid Khaliq BA) edged out Conner Downs. 19-year-old Downs (Far Cotton) felt hard done by after three rounds of entertaining to-and-fro action. Bailey nicked it on the last round.
Kings Heath southpaw Akash Tuqir, European Youth champion in 2015, tamed Retford punching machine Stephen Rolfe, a quarter finalist last season. Tuqir took early charge of the 60kgs clash and when Rolfe set about trying to turn the fight his way in the second, he ran onto pinpoint back hands. There was a big drive from Rolfe at the start of the last, but Tuqir slammed him with some hard body punches that got him under control again.
Look out for Ezra Taylor (Bilborough) at 81kgs. Back after around a year out through injury, Taylor unanimously outpointed Ross Chapman (Heart of England).
91&kgs Lee Frater was another to reappear after around four years out. The 32 year old turned up at Bad Boyz’s gym in Nottingham around eight weeks ago and with ex-pro Errol Mcdonald in his corner, Frater unanimously outpointed Ben Brammer (X-box), handing him a count in the last.
There was a big gulf in experience between cruiserweights Tony Riches (Skegness) and Godly Thiaba. Riches was having his 50th bout, Thiaba just his seventh – but the gamble taken by Far Cotton coach John Daly paid off. Thiaba was too strong and won unanimously. Thiaba’s clubmate, Ben Fail, meets Nathan Wallace (Grantham) in the East Midlands final at Cotgrave on Saturday night. Fail, beaten in last year’s semi-finals by Jordan Reynolds, was handed a bye, while Wallace was a technical points winner over S. Stannard.