Boxing: Hamer gain gold in the Manchester Box-Cup

Hamer Amateur Boxing Club landed gold in the Manchester Box-Cup after two stellar performances from 15-year-old 'Charming' Alfie McKay at Be Active Urmston.

Alfie first entered Ring B of the Manchester Box-Cup to meet Harvey Dootson of Boarshaw ABC in the semi-final of the 58kg category.

On the sound of the first bell, Alfie came out of the blue corner with his probing jab to find his range and when Dootson stepped forward, the Hamer boxer unloaded a swift one-two combination to the chin of his on-coming opponent.

Then, as Alfie continued to prob with his jab, Dootson was able to get close himself to land his own one-two combination to the Hamer boxer’s head.

As the round progressed, the Hamer boxer began to step-up the pace of the action, which gained him the opportunity to land even more continuous one-two combinations to the head of his Boarshaw opponent, to take the round.

Before the start of round two, the Hamer coach, Steven Connellan had noticed that Dootson was dropping his left hand when throwing his jab. So he told Alfie to allow his opponent to step in with his punches so that he could step back out of range, before quickly stepping back into the action to land his right-hand to the chin.

The bell rang for round two and the Hamer boxer came out probing with his jab once again, before both Alfie and his opponent threw combinations at each other in the centre of the ring, and as they came in close to each other, Alfie continued with hooks to both the body and head.

The Hamer boxer continued to find openings with his jab, before unloading his right hand to the chin and when Dootson tried to reply, Alfie slipped his opponents punches, before stepping back out of range.

By this time the Hamer boxer was dictating the pace of the action with his one-two combinations. Dootson tried to step out of range, only to taste the right-hand from his Hamer opponent and when Dootson did manage to step forward, Alfie was quick to spin off his front foot and move out of range.

Before the bell rang for the third and last round, Alfie was told by his coach to up the pace slightly, because he could see that Dootson was struggling to keep up with the action.

The bell rang and Alfie instantly took to the centre of the ring to take the fight to Dootson, who surprisingly stood his ground and replied with punches of his own. This continued for quite a while as both boxers landed and received punches from each other.

Then Dootson slowly began to take a step back, as Alfie continued to step forward with more combinations to take the victory by a unanimous decision, to meet Lincoln Green of Roy Richardson's Boxing Club in Ring A, in the final, at the same venue, that very next day.

After a long day of waiting for his opportunity to compete in the Box-Cup final. Alfie quickly stepped out of the blue corner once again to meet his much taller opponent, whilst unloading fast and furious left- and right-handed punches to the head of his opponent Lincoln Green, who replied with swift punches of his own.

The action and punch success continued from both boxers. But as the round came to the later stages, the Hamer boxer began to land the swifter and more precise blows to the head before the bell rang to end the round.

The Hamer coach, Steven Connellan, had seen Alfie’s opponent box before and he knew that Green would slowly begin to tire as the rounds progressed. So, he told his Hamer boxer to up the pace of the action with his punches, but to be careful of his opponent’s right-hand punch, which caught Alfie on occasions, which instantly forced his head back, during a closely fought, very competitive round.

The bell rang for round two and Alfie immediately stormed out to unload his right-hand punch to the chin of Green, before quickly stepping back out of range, before instantly stepping back into the action to land a swift three-punch combination to the head.

Then, when Green managed to step in close, the Hamer boxer began to land hooks to the body before finishing off with a hook to the head, as he stepped back out of range once again. Green slowly began to tire, and he started to grab hold of Alfie as the Hamer boxer worked him onto the ropes to unload even more punches.

Then Green managed to take to the centre of the ring, but his tiredness showed when Alfie continued to take total control of the action, as he used his swift feet to step in and out of range, whilst landing fast and accurate punches.

Just before the bell rang to end the round, the Hamer boxer forced his opponent into the neutral corner to unload even more telling blows to both the body and head.

In the third and last round, the Hamer boxer continued to follow his coach’s instructions as he quickly stepped in and out of range with his swift and accurate punches, whilst Green occasionally caught his Hamer opponent with solid single blows.

But as the round forged ahead, Green began to tire again, which gave Alfie the opportunity to force his opponent back onto the ropes, to land even more fast punches, before Green grabbed hold of him, whilst waiting for the referee to split them apart.

Alfie continued to land fast two-punch combinations, before stepping out of range from his now very tired opponent’s return punches and when the bell rang to end the contest, the referee complimented both boxers for putting on a tremendous performance for the crowd, before awarding Alfie the victory via a unanimous decision to gain the Manchester Box-Cup Gold medal for 2023.