FIGHTING FOR A CAUSE
Inter Services competition at DEBRA dinner show
EVERY year promoter Frank Warren holds a major fundraising event for DEBRA, the charity that provides treatment and support, as well as research into a potential cure, for people who are suffering from Epidermolysis Bullosa, a terrible skin condition that causes constant pain. With charities squeezed during the pandemic, and the subsequent lockdowns and restrictions on their activities, events like this are more important than ever.
A busy black tie dinner at The Brewery in London on Friday (November 19), with an auction and raffle for the charity, also featured five contests from the Inter Services Individual championships. The evening finished with an Elite welterweight clash between the Navy’s James Le Poidevin and the Army’s Eddie Drayton. Le Poidevin began to crack in big shots with his southpaw left in the first round. Drayton stung back with a cross and a left hook but Le Poidevin picked his moments to step in and attack as well as choosing when to move off and marshal the distance between them, winning a unanimous decision.
In another Elite contest Leon Moulds, Army, and Ben Grant, Navy, showed their quality at 64kgs. They evaded each other’s shots well, looking to land counterpunches. They stepped their output up as the rounds progressed, the audience responding well to their efforts. It was Grant who edged Moulds out on a split decision.
There were three Development bouts on the show. At 57kgs the RAF’S Frances Lyall stopped the Army’s Rosie Wood in the first round. Lyall, a southpaw, was hard to pin down and soon she was banging solid lefts down the middle. Those long lefts handed Wood two counts and the bout ended as Lyall began to overwhelm her opponent.
Development 69kgs Callum Shaw also won by stoppage. He put huge pressure on the Army’s Joe Flemming, ending it in the third round after giving Flemming three counts.
RAF middleweight Kieran Gething finished strongly to give the Army’s Michael Browne a count in the last round and take a unanimous points win.