Talent aplenty in Hamer show
AGOOD crowd turned up at the Brickcroft Social Club to watch Hamer Amateur Boxing Club Annual boxing show.
Opening the show for Hamer was newcomer, 10-year-old Allana “Top Banana” Shaw, who fought a Skills Bout against Anaya Weaver of Stockport College ABC inwhich no contestant gains the decision.
Both girls showed good technique and clever skills in an evenly matched contest that had the crowd cheering in appreciation when the final bell rang.
Allana and her opponent were presented with their trophy’s by the former British SuperFeatherweight Champion Micheal “The Irish Mexican” Gomez, who was also signing his autobiography, photos and having his picture taken with a long line of admirers.
Next on for Hamer was another newcomer, 12-year-old Sarhan “Nurse Nurse” Khan, who beat Joe Chard of Jimmy Egan’s via a split decision in an all action bout where both boxers showed great determination.
Aeron “The Viking” Maddocks, 14, lost to Patrick Hewitt of Leigh Boxing Club in a closely fought contest that saw Hewitt take the first round by landing his punches first and finishing the exchange with clever counter-punching.
Maddocks took the second round with a better work rate so it was all to do in the third and last round. The Hamer youngster stormed out hoping to impress the judges but Hewitt stayed composed and began to land the punches that stood out to take the round and the contest.
Also in action was 14-year-old crowd favorite Adam “Little Red” Earnshaw who was matched against Denny Melia of Towerhill ABC.
In the first round, Earnshaw played up to the crowd as he began to goad his Liverpool opponent with his hands by his side, which Melia took advantage of with fast one-two’s to take the round.
Earnshaw was told by his coach Steven Connellan to discard those silly tactics and get back to what he was good at, which was counterpunching. The bell rang for the second round and Earnshaw came out and he began to allow Melia to throw his punches first, then he swiftly stepped out of range before stepping back into the action with fast punches that connected to the head.
Earnshaw saved his best for the last round when he came out to meet Melia in the centre of the ring to land his punches first before stepping out of range to make the Liverpool youngster miss, then stepping back into range to land some terrific counterpunches to take the contest by unanimous decision.
Jude “Too Tough” English, 14, showed why she had been picked to box for England last year when she comprehensibly dominated her opponent, Georgia Klien of Manor Boxing Academy.
English, who was wearing her England vest for this contest, immediately set about her opponent with hurtful hooks to both the body and head. English didn’t give Klien chance to settle as she constantly forced the action with fast punches that connected with power. The Yorkshire girl tried to find her range by backing off but English trapped her on the ropes to unloaded more combinations.
It was relentless action from the Hamer girl and all Klien could do was try to hold on to her opponent but English stepped back to find her range, before unloading more telling punches to take the contest by unanimous decision.
Grant “Quick Gun” Kershaw allowed Haseeb Khan of Premier ABC to drag him into an untidy fight rather than use his much longer reach advantage to keep his opponent at range. In the second round, the 14-year-old Hamer youth began to jab and move before setting his feet to unload swift one-two’s. The tactic was beginning to work but as the round progressed Kershaw fell into the trap of fighting on the inside again which was totally favorable to the Premier boxer and because of this he managed to etch out the win by split-decision.
The fight of the night belonged to 20-year-old senior boxer Harry “Red Beak” Bills and his opponent Gianni Ankrah of Ardwick ABC.
The bout started off with the much stockier Ankrah taking control as he landed powerful punches upon Bills. The Hamer boxer tried to find his range by using his jab but he invited the Ardwick lad in by covering up with his guard instead of continuing to throw punches from a distance and not landing first. Bills was told by cornerman Connellan that he had lost the first round and in-order to get back into the contest he would have to take the fight to Ankrah and show the judges he not there just to make up the numbers.
Bills came out for the second round more determined and it immediately showed when he began to take the fight to Ankrah and force the Ardwick lad onto his back foot. The crowd cheered and stood on their feet in appreciation of what was happening in-front of them as both boxers stood toe to toe exchanging terrific punches upon each other.
The third and last round was much the same as the second with both boxers unwilling to back down and the noise in the room became deafening as both boxers unloaded heavy and hurtful punches upon each other.
Towards the end of the contest it was Bills who began to take control as the now very tired Ardwick boxer continually backed off while the Hamer boxer unloaded his punches.
It was a very close affair in which the Hamer corner thought their lad had done enough to take the win but sadly the judges thought otherwise and awarded the bout to Ankrah by split-decision.
Last on for Hamer was 21-year-old Husnain “Dennis” Ali who was matched against Conor McMyler of Metro ABC.
The first round was the calm before the storm with Husnain landing the better punches as he forced the action and as the round progressed he began to take control.
In the second round Husnain took total command of the bout as he continually chased his opponent from corner to corner while landing hurtful punches to both the body and head. McMyler tried desperately to use his feet to gain some distance from his relentless opponent but Husnain was in full flow now and he continued to land punches throughout this and the third round to take the verdict by unanimous decision.
Husnain also won on the road when he travelled to Leeds to beat local boxer Luke Kelly of Hutslet ABC.
At the end of a fantastic evening of well-matched boxing the former multititled National Champions Darren and Tony Connellan and former Northwest Champion Brian Kelly stepped into the ring to present the annual awards. The Joe Lancaster Recognition Cup was awarded to Louis Humphreys for his commitment to training.
The Johnny Butterworth Memorial Cup for The Most improved Prospect of the Year was awarded to Allana “Top Banana” Shaw and the Johnny Butterworth Memorial Shield for the Best Boxer of the Night went to Harry “Red Beak” Bills for his shear grit and determination.
The Dennis Connellan Shield for the Best Boxer of the Year fell to Shahruf Ali who would go on to win the National Open Class 44kg Title two days later.