Boxing: Hamer Annual Boxing Show

A good crowd turned up at the Brickcroft Social Club to watch Hamer Amateur Boxing Club Annual boxing show.

Hamer newcomer 10-year-old Allana Shaw oepned the show with a skills bout against Anaya Weaver of Stockport College ABC in a skills bout (where no winner is declared).

Both girls showed good technique and skills in an evenly matched contest that had the crowd cheering in appreciation at the final bell.

Allana and her opponent were presented with their trophies by the Former British Super-Featherweight Champion Michael Gomez, who was also signing his autobiography, signing pictures and having his picture taken with a long line of excited admirers.

Next on for Hamer was another newcomer, 12-year-old Sarhan Khan who beat Joe Chard of Jimmy Eagans via a split decision in an all action bout where both boxers showed great determination.

Aeron Maddocks, 14, lost to Patrick Hewitt of Leigh Boxing Club in a closely fought contest that saw Hewitt take the first round by landing his punches first and finishing the exchange with cleaver counter-punching. Maddocks took the second round with a better work rate so it was all to do in the third and final round. The Hamer youngster stormed out hoping to impress the judges but Hewitt stayed composed and landed the punches that stood out to take the round and the contest.

Also in action was 14-year-old crowd favorite Adam Earnshaw who was matched against Denny Melia of Towerhill ABC.

In the first-round Earnshaw played up to the crowd as he began to goad his opponent with his hands by his side, which Melia took advantage of with fast one-twos to take the round.

Earnshaw was told by his coach Steven Connellan to discard those "silly tactics" and get back to what he was good at, which is counter-punching.

The bell rang for the second round and Earnshaw came out and he began to allow Melia to throw his punches first, then he swiftly stepped out of range before stepping back into the action with fast punches that connected to the head.

It was another evenly matched contest that could have gone either way but Earnshaw saved his best for the last round. He came out to meet Melia in the centre of the ring to land his punches first before stepping out of range to make his opponent miss, then stepping back into range to land some terrific counter-punches to take the contest by unanimous decision.

Jude English,14, showed why she was picked to box for England last year when she comprehensibly dominated Georgia Klien of Manor Boxing Academy.

English, who was wearing her England vest for this contest, immediately set about her opponent with hurtful hooks to both the body and head. English didn't give Klien chance to settle as she constantly forced the action with fast punches that connected with power.

The Yorkshire girl tried to find her range by backing off but English trapped her on the ropes to unloaded more combinations.

It was relentless action from English and all Klien could do was try to hold on to her opponent but English stepped back to find her range, before unloading more telling punches to take the contest by unanimous decision.

Grant Kershaw allowed Haseeb Khan of Premier ABC to drag him into an untidy fight rather than use his much longer reach advantage to keep his opponent at range.

In the second round the 14-year-old Hamer youth began to jab and move before setting his feet to unload swift one-twos. The tactic was beginning to work but as the round progressed Kershaw fell into the trap of fighting on the inside again, which was favoured Khan and  he won by split-decision.

The fight of the night belonged to 20-year-old senior boxer Harry Bills and his opponent Gianni Ankrah of Ardwick ABC.

The bout started off with the much stockier Ankrah taking control as he landed powerful punches upon Bills.

The Hamer boxer tried to find his range by using his jab but he invited Ankrah in by covering up with his guard instead of continuing to throw punches from a distance and not landing first.

Bills was told by his corner-man Steven Connellan that he had lost the first round and in order to get back into the contest he would have to take the fight to Ankrah and show the judges he not there just to make up the numbers.

Bills came out for the second round more determined and it immediately showed when he began to take the fight to Ankrah and force the Ardwick lad onto his back foot. The crowd cheered and stood on their feet in appreciation of what was happening as both boxers stood toe-to-toe exchanging terrific punches.

The third and final round was much the same as the second with both boxers unwilling to back down and the noise in the room became deafening as they unloaded heavy and hurtful punches upon each other.

Towards the end of the contest it was Bills who began to take control and the very tired Ardwick boxer continually backed off while the Hamer boxer unloaded his punches.

It was a very close affair and the Hamer corner thought their lad had done enough to take the win but the judges thought otherwise and awarded the bout to Ankrah by split-decision.

Last on for Hamer was 21-year-old Husnain Ali who was matched against Conor McMyler of Metro ABC.

The first round was the calm before the storm with Husnain landing the better punches as he forced the action and began to take control as the round progressed.

In the second round Husnain took total command of the bout as he continually chased his opponent from corner to corner whilst landing hurtful punches to both the body and head.

McMyler tried desperately to use his feet to gain some distance from his relentless opponent but Husnain was in full flow and he continued to land punches throughout this and the third round to take the verdict by unanimous decision.

At the end of a fantastic evening of well-matched boxing the former multi-titled National Champions Darren and Tony Connellan and former Northwest Champion Brian Kelly stepped into the ring to present the annual awards.

The Joe Lancaster Recognition Cup was awarded to Louis Humphreys for his commitment to training.

The Johnny Butterworth Memorial Cup for The Most Improved Prospect of the Year was awarded to Allana Shaw.

The Johnny Butterworth Memorial Shield for the Best Boxer of the Night went to Harry Bills for his shear grit and determination.

The Dennis Connellan Shield for the Best Boxer of the Year went to Shahruf Ali.