Mixed bag on road
HAMER Amateur Boxing Club received three last minute calls for their boxers to compete in boxing bouts with mixed results.
The first Hamer boxer to step into the ring was 15-year-old “Charming” Alfie Mckay, who travelled to the 147 Club in Walkden to meet Luke Street of Halliwell ABC on Saturday 18th November.
On the sound of the first bell, the Hamer boxer stepped out of the blue corner to instantly land a cracking righthand punch to the chin of his on-coming opponent.
Alfie continued to push forward upon his front foot to take the fight to Street, who was taking multiple right-hand punches to the chin, followed by a solid left hook. Alfie landed another solid right hand to the chin at the start of round two.
The Halliwell boxer tried to mix it with his Hamer opponent, only to receive even more punches to the head, which forced him to grab hold of Mckay in-order to relieve him of the pressure.
The Hamer boxer continued to put the physical force upon his opponent, who repeatedly backed away upon the ropes to receive even more blows to his head and body.
Round three was much the same as the first two rounds, which saw the Hamer boxer continually press forward as he unleashed punches to the body and head of his Halliwell opponent, who grabbed hold of the Hamer boxer every time he stepped in close, which brought continued warnings for the referee.
As the round progressed, Street grew more and more drained and exhausted as he constantly took punches to the head and when the bell rang to end the round, it was a foregone conclusion that Alfie was to have his arm raised in victory, but shockingly the bout was awarded to his opponent.
Hamer Coach Alan Bacon said: “This sport is getting worse and worse. The nation goes on about mental wellbeing. You can tell a boxer he did well when he lost and give them advice and instructions on how to perform certain moves etcetera.
“But what can you say to a boxer who has clearly won but was totally robbed of the victory by the officials?”
The agony didn’t end there for Hamer, when 20-year-old Aeron “The Viking” Maddocks was invited to travel to Aldershot by Merseyside and Cheshire to represent them in a weekend of boxing against three different boxing teams
Aeron lost when boxing a very closely fought contest against a boxer with 23 victories and only six defeats, Naseem Miah of Hoddesdon Boxing Academy.
The following day, Aeron lost in another close bout to the Swedish National Champion, with over 100 bouts, Jonathan Johnson.
The agony didn’t end there for Aeron, who was pencilled in to meet a member of the British Armed Forces on the Sunday, but the military personnel had to pull out because he had damaged his eye in a previous contest the day before.
Another last-minute call came when 16-yearold Asim “The Dancer” Mahmood was invited to meet 17-year-old Kai Livingstone of South Cheshire ABC at Witton Albion Football Club in Northwich on Saturday, 25th November.
Asim stormed out of the blue corner all revved up and excited, whilst throwing swinging punches at his opponent, who swiftly stepped out of range, before stepping back in to land a one-two combination to the head of his Hamer opponent.
Asim continued to swing and miss with his punches, whilst Livingstone threw straight punches at his on-coming opponent.
As the round progressed, the pressure from the Hamer boxer slowly began to take hold of the fight, as he forced Livingstone upon the ropes to land hooks to both the body and head.
Livingstone continued to wait for Asim to storm forward, and when he did, the South Cheshire boxer unloaded a straight right armed punch to his oncoming opponent, who replied with a punch of his own to the side of Livingstone’s head.
Livingstone swiftly moved out of range into the blue corner, where Asim threw multiple punches at his opponent, before landing a solid right hand to the chin, which instantly prompted the referee to step in and administer a standing eight count to Livingstone.
As soon as the bout was allowed to continue, Asim stormed forward again to keep his opponent upon the ropes as he landed swinging hooks upon Livingstone before the bell rang to end the round.
Before the start of round two, Asim was told by his coach Steven Connellan to stop throwing swinging punches and to rely on his straight onetwo combinations, whilst also using his jab to find his range.
The bell rang for the second round and Asim charged out of his corner constantly throwing punches, which force Livingstone into the neutral corned where the Hamer boxer landed punch after punch before his opponent slipped out of the way upon his feet to use the ring to keep his distance.
Asim followed his opponent around the ring as he continued to throw wild swinging punches.
Then he suddenly landed a solid and straight
right armed blow to the chin, which forced the referee to step in again and administer another standing eight count to Livingstone.
As soon as the bout was allowed to continue, Asim stepped in with more telling punches, which forced his opponent to put his head down and hold onto his Hamer antagonist and when the referee allowed them to continued, Asim landed an accumulation of straight punches, which forced the referee yet again to step in a administer Livingstone another standing eight count, before waving his arms in the air to call an end to the fight and award the Hamer boxer a stoppage victory.