Hamer hat-trick
HAMER Amateur Boxing Club gained a hat-trick of victories last weekend, when 15-year-old Austin “Powers” Heneghan and 16-year-old “Champagne” Charlie Braddock travelled to St Pauls WMC in Blackburn to compete in the NABGC North West semifinals.
And 16-year-old Asim “The Dancer” Mahmood also travelled to Warrington Irish Club to compete in a club show.
The first boxer to step into the ring that weekend was Heneghan, who came out of the blue corner with his probing jab to meet Dylan Flynn of Clayton ABC.
Flynn suddenly rushed into his Hamer opponent, only to be met by a stinging right-hand punch to the jaw.
From there on, Austin took total control, as he landed continued ultrafast combinations to his opponent’s head.
As the round progressed, the Hamer boxer began to settle down, and wait for
Flynn to come towards him to unload his punches, so that he could impress those in attendance with swift counter-punches, which connected every time Flynn stepped into range.
The start of round two was much the same as the first round, with Austin looking to throw his lead punch, whilst also swiftly counter-punching his opponent as he stepped into range.
This went on for much of the round, before Austin showed the crowd and the judges that he was in total control.
When he forced Flynn back into his own corner to unload countless punches upon his opponent, before the referee stepped in to administer Flynn a standing eight count.
As soon as the count finished, Austin stormed in, but time wasn’t on his side, because the bell rang to end the round.
In round three Austin began to impress the crowd once again, as he switched to a south-paw stance, whilst waiting for Flynn to attack, so that he could step back and land his left hand upon his oncoming opponent.
And as the round continued, Austin followed instructions to a tee as he took total control of the bout to take the win by a unanimous decision, to progress into the NABGC North West Final.
Hamer Boxing Club had no time to celebrate Austin’s victory, because the next boxer to step into the ring that night was “Champagne” Charlie Braddock, who was to meet William Crank of Walkden ABC, who used his much longer reach to initially keep the Hamer boxer at bay, but as the round progressed, Charlie began to throw his jab towards his opponent’s stomach, before suddenly unleashing a solid overhand right to the chin of the Walkden boxer.
As the round progressed, Crank began to step back more due to Charlie upping his game, whilst also unleashing hooks to the head, as he continued to step into range.
In round two Crank momentarily upped his game a little as he used his swift jab to keep the Hamer boxer at bay, before Charlie began to force him onto the back foot again, whilst he stormed in throughout the round with overhand rights to the chin, before landing crunching hooks to both the body and head.
In the third and last round Charlie continued to step up his momentum as he forced Crank upon the back foot once again, but by this time the Walkden boxer had found his range as he stepped back even more to gain his distance to unload his solid right hand, which began to connect every time he unloaded it.
But Charlie was still doing enough to impress the judges, who gave him the verdict by a majority decision to also progress into the final.
The third boxer to make it a hat-trick of wins for Hamer Boxing Club that weekend was 16-year-old Asim “The Dancer” Mahmood.
When he and his opponent, Brogan Coleman of Ancoats ABC were the last boxers to step into the ring that Saturday afternoon in Warrington, and when the bell rang to start the first round, Asim instantly showed his intentions when he stormed out of the blue corner to constantly keep his opponent upon the ropes as he landed powerful hooks to both the body and head of Coleman, who constantly grabbed hold of his Hamer rival in-order to stop him from landing his punches.
The pattern of the fight became a little untidy in the second round, as Asim forced his opponent upon the ropes once again, only for Coleman to grab hold of him, which brought warnings from the referee on two occasions, whilst he also warned him for putting his head down when the Hamer boxer landed his punches upon him.
In the third and last round Asim upped the pressure as he repeatedly forced Coleman back onto the ropes to unload even more hooks to the body and head, before the referee stepped in once again to administer a warning to Coleman for putting his head down, whilst also holding.
The bout became a little untidy due to Coleman holding onto his opponent, and when the bell rang to end the contest, it was Asim who stepped out of the ring with a smile etched upon his face.