Allana powers through to final
HAMER amateur boxer Allana ‘Top Banana’ Shaw progressed into the Minors 50kg National Final when meeting Erin Sutton Dean of Darlaston boxing club at the Doncaster Dome.
From the very first bell the 11-year-old Hamer boxer showed her intent by taking the fight straight to her opponent with solid one, two combinations from her long reach advantage.
The Darlaston youngster tried to push forward with swinging punches but Allana stepped back to evade them before stepping back into range to off-load straight onetwo combinations to the chin which forced her unbeaten opponent into the corners and it was here that the Rochdale lass showed her class by unloading more punishing blows to both the body and head.
Sutton Dean continued to try and land her swinging punches and on occasion she managed to connect but only to receive more stinging punches from the Hamer youngster to take the round.
Before round two Allana was told by her coach, Steven Connellan, to continue to the follow the instructions learnt in the gym to tackle her opponents style, but to up the pace that little bit more and continue to manoeuvre Sutton Dean onto the ropes and into the corners.
The Rochdale youngster came out for round two eager to continue with her success from the first round and she continued to land straight punches to the face of her on-coming opponent whilst using great footwork to step out of range from the following swings that came from the Darlaston opponent.
At one point Sutton Dean managed to force Allana into the corner and just as she was about to unload punches onto the Hamer lass, Allana turned her opponent into the same corner with terrific footwork before landing punches of her own.
In the third and last round Allana immediately came out to land a solid right hand to the chin and Sutton Dean backed off onto the ropes and the Hamer lass unloaded punches to both the body and head.
Perhaps realising that she was behind on the judges scorecards, Sutton Dean began to step away from her opponent more which allowed the Hamer girl to box at her own pace and show off her range of combination punches as she continued to use the ring to her advantage and force the Darlaston youngster onto the ropes and into the corners were she unloaded straight punches, hooks and uppercuts to take the contest by unanimous decision and move into the final.
Hamer coach Alan Bacon said: “It’s incredible to see someone so young show such skill. This young lady has a bright future and I see big things on the horizon for her.”