Split ends
St Pancras on the wrong end of some tight verdicts on their own show, writes Philip Sharkey from ringside
ST PANCRAS
MARCH 7
LOSING four split decisions on their own show didn’t seem to dampen the atmosphere at the annual St Pancras home show in the plush confines of Mayfair’s Nobu Hotel.
In the final bout of the evening, home boxer Taimur Munir relied on his long levers and movement against Alexandre Tavares
(Stonebridge).
It was the bustling aggression of Tavares that caught the eye of two of the judges and secured him a narrow win [pictured above].
The evening’s other senior match also went to a split. After finding himself under the cosh against Ibi Ekineh (Finchley) early on, Boxcup’s Beni Mondua got his jab working over the last two rounds.
He put a well-timed right over Ekineh’s jab in the last to bring a cheer from the appreciative diners.
In the only other bout not contested by a host boxer, East London Boxing Academy’s hard-hitting Louis Isaac stopped Crawley’s tall Danny Westbrook.
Under pressure from the off, Westbrook soon took a standing eight and kept soaking up punches. Two more counts in the second saw the contest halted. Westbrook’s ill-fitting headguard certainly didn’t help his cause.
The evening’s only other stoppage occurred in a contest between two first-timers when the home club’s Jack Mills came out throwing overhand rights, which made Louay Elsawify
back off and receive a count in the first. The same occurred in the second and this time the referee led the Harrow boxer back to his corner.
St Pancras started the show with a win as Christie Dunne bloodied the nose of Harrow junior Paddy Healey and gave him a count on the way to a points win.
The four losing splits for The Saints started when Bobby O’leary lost out to ELBA’S Sonny Smith.
Rising star Luke Williams was denied by the strong, broadshouldered Dagenham prospect William Payne, while Finchley’s Jayden Ibrahim’s jab landed often enough to earn the nod over southpaw Danny O’neill. Danny was handed a count after he became entangled in the ropes and after a fast-paced bout between the aggressive Dmitry Mesnick (Crawley) and Cameron Quaid, it was Mesnick who had his hand raised. Quaid finished strongly and another home boxer who put it all on the line in the last round was Rico Chambers.
But Cricklewood rep Mustapha Bendou had built a lead that Chambers couldn’t overhaul.