Jude English beats Ellie Tennison in her own 'back yard'

Jude English of Hamer Amateur Boxing Club

Jude English, a 12-year-old female boxer Jude English from Hamer Amateur Boxing Club, travelled to The Bay Western Hotel, Well Lane, Willerby, Hull to beat 13-year-old Ellie Tennison of City of Hull ABC.

The vastly more experienced Tennison was introduced to the boisterous home crowd but the Hamer youngster was  willing and ready to trade punches and at the sound of the first bell met her opponent in the middle of the ring to unload a crisp one-two punch combination that immediately sent Tennison back onto the ropes.

English moved forward and continued punch to the head followed by hurtful body shots.

Tennison was unprepared for this from such an inexperienced opponent and it was a struggle for her to set her feet and concentrate on her boxing due to the Rochdale youngster constantly pushing her back while unloading fast punches to the head.

English won the first round.

In round two Tennison began to get back into the fight constantly pushing forward, while English tried to parry the on-coming shots before landing with punches her own.

It was a much closer round and as Tennison continued to press forward she used her experience to slow English down to a pace that suited her better and  edged the round.

All to box for in the last round and before the bell rang English was told by her coach Steven Connellan to stay focused and to take the middle of the ring and try to push her opponent back onto the ropes if she backed off.

The bell rang and to the delight of the crowd both boxers clashed in the centre of the ring with punches thrown from all angles. Both unwilling to step back as they traded heavy punches.

English caught Tennison with a right-hand punch which had enough power to make her opponent step back. English instantly moved forward and caught Tennison on the ropes with good combinations.

The noise in the room was deafening as both boxers continued to trade blows.

Tennison raised the hopes of the home crowd when she caught English in a corner but just as she was about to connect with punches, the Hamer youngster used clever tactics to roll along the ring ropes and manoeuvre her opponent back into the same corner so that she could finish the contest with telling punches to win the round and the fight by a unanimous decision.

Hamer coach Alan Bacon said: "We always knew that this girl had talent, and by putting her in with a more experienced opponent we hoped that she would gain invaluable understanding of the game, but what we didn’t envisage was the way she took the fight to her opponent, who it must be said was a lot more seasoned and was boxing in her own back yard, so to speak.

"We also learnt on the way home that Jude gained the best boxer of the night which is fantastic for her."