Kai’s starring role in Boro’s annual show
LITTLEBOROUGH Boxing Club held their annual homeshow at Rochdale Town Hall and again it proved to be a huge success for the club.
The night featured 10 bouts of great quality and entertainment.
Lawrence Price and Rhys Oldham both featured in skills bouts before the first scored bout of the night saw James Topham fighting his opponent from Yorkshire, Allfi Griffins.
All three rounds saw both lads exchange blows in an exciting display of boxing ability. However, the judges favour edged towards Topham.
Adam Earnshaw was next up and he was fighting Rizlam Aslam, an opponent not only a step up in weight but also three times Yorkshire champion, a national champion and two times national finalist in the last six months alone.
However, in the first round Earnshaw repeatedly stung his opponent and his speed caused Aslam serious trouble, the Yorkshireman even throwing Earnshaw to the canvas twice in frustration.
The second and third round saw Aslam again throwing Earnshaw and it seemed to upset the home fighter’s rhythm with it ultimately losing him the last two rounds.
Christy Joyce was up next against William Hulton from Olivers and with it being both lads’ first ever bout it was a cagey affair to start with.
Joyce used his reach to his advantage, boxing Hulton at range. The second and third round saw the fight heat up a little with the final nod going to Joyce from Littleborough.
Kai Whitehead was next up, fighting his opponent Aman Hafeez from Hamer Boxing Club and what a fantastic display of boxing these two lads put on together.
Whitehead used angles to create openings on his opponent and all three rounds had the crowd on their feet. Whitehead was rattling shots in from all angles but his Hamer opponent constantly came forward, looking to exchange. The bout had everyone on their feet giving them a round of applause but the Littleborough boxer’s angles and experience proved too much for the Hamer boxer and Whitehead got the win and the crowd’s approval in the fight of the night.
Alex Young was the next to step through the ropes for Littleborough, fighting his opponent Tim Murphy from Bacup’s Love Boxing.
Murphy chose to box Young on the back foot and when both lads did exchange they became tangled. However, as the fight went on it became evident that Young had the edge in terms of power and was looking to shut the fight down and get the win. It was a close decision, but Young got the nod.
Both Sam Smith and Joe Vaughan also fought in close contests, both losing on a split decisions just getting edged on work rate.
Final bill was Love Boxing’s James Jacques who put a fantastic display in against Joshua Wisher, knocking his opponent down in the third round and getting the win.
Head coach Mark Oldham said: “As a club we work together to put a show on every year that the lads can look back on and remember. All the lads were fantastic.”
Littleborough coach and honorary president Terry Hernon added: “What a great night of boxing. Kai’s win stood out for me. This club is getting better by the year.”