Little Red battles way into quarters
IT was another successful weekend for Hamer Amateur Boxing Club when 14 year old Adam ‘Little Red’ Earnshaw travelled down to the North Solihull Sports Centre, Conway Road, Solihull, South Midlands to take up the challenge of Ahmed Baker of Small Heath Boxing Club in the Pre-Quarter Finals of the National Schoolboy Championships.
In the first round Baker looked to use his jab while stepping back out of range. The Hamer boxer continually moved forward, looking to counterpunch his Small Heath opponent if he made any mistakes. For the first minute or so it was stalemate with none of the boxers scoring any blows but as the contest progressed Baker began to step forward and take the fight to Earnshaw which opened the door for him to make mistakes, and every time he missed with punches the Hamer boxer countered with fast combinations to the head. With a boisterous back-up from his supporters Baker continued to rush in while hoping to land his big punch. Earnshaw began to switch his stance to make it more difficult for Baker to plan his attacks. The Hamer youngster waited for his opponent to charge in and when he did, Earnshaw continued to step back out of range before stepping back into the action with swift punches to the head to take the first round.
On the interval his coach Steven Connellan told Earnshaw to continue with the same tactics that where working for him whilst also following Baker onto the ropes when he backed up so that he could continue to impress the judges when he landed punches.
The bell rang for the second round and Earnshaw quickly began to take control when he immediately landed a solid right hand punch to the head.
He had found his momentum by now and he continually switched his stance to baffle his opponent while landing rapid punches to the head. Baker repeatedly stormed into his Hamer opponent and on occasion he caught Earnshaw with a swinging right hand to the face as he ducked his head down out of range, but the Rochdale lad was quick to reply with swift punches of his own to keep the judges on his side.
Before the third and last round Earnshaw was told to up his game. He was winning the contest by taking the first two rounds. But he should never take things for granted because Baker was on his own turf so the local judges may favour his work. Earnshaw was also told to use his jab to the body before quickly throwing his over- hand right to the head. His coach had seen an opening and believed his boxer could capitalise on that.
The bell signalled the last round and Earnshaw immediately began to take the fight to Baker again. He constantly forced the Small Heath boxer onto the back foot when he landed his jab to the body before swiftly throwing an over-hand right that continuously landed, which prolonged baker’s frustration. Earnshaw was now enjoying his moment in the public eye as he connected with swift combinations before moving out of range. Baker began to get a little frustrated, which made it easier for Earnshaw to land counter-punches to take the round and the victory to progress into the National Finals.
The same day Hamer Amateur Boxing Club also had 15 year old Grant ‘Quick Gun’ Kershaw travel to the White Rose Banquet Suite in Leeds to meet local favourite Liam Craven of Camp Detox Boxing Club.
The noise in the room was deafening when the southpaw Craven entered the ring, which dented Kershaw’s confidence a little and it showed in the first round which became scrappy and uneventful.
In the second round Kershaw began to find his range with his long arms to unload fast combinations to the head before stepping back out of range from his punch swinging opponent. Craven tried to make the contest scrappy by attempting to move in close but the Hamer boxer stepped out of range and landed an overhand right to the head when his tiring opponent moved in with more swinging punches.
In his corner Kershaw was told to continue to throw his right hand punch by Hamer coaches Frank Maddocks and Matthew Lageard. Quarter
The bell rang for the last round and the Hamer youngster stormed out to take the fight to his local opponent.
Kershaw continually landed to the head of Craven who was now beginning to show signs of tiredness. Craven moved in with his hands slowly dropping by his side while looking to land some wild punches and Kershaw stepped back out of range before stepping back to land a solid four-to-five punch combination that knocked his opponents head back and his head guard off. The referee should have been given Craven a standing eight count for the amount of punches he had received without reply, but instead he took the stricken fighter to his own corner to get the head guard refitted correctly.
When the referee give both boxers the nod to continue, Kershaw stormed into Craven with another unanswered fourto-five punch combination, leaving the referee no option but to give Craven a standing eight count and on the final bell Kershaw’s hand was raised in victory.