Boxing: Hamer Boxing Club fight reports

On Thursday 6 October, Hamer Amateur Boxing Club travelled to the Kirkby Sports Bar in Liverpool with two young up and coming boxers. The first to step into the ring was 12-year-old Scarlett “The Starlet” Holden who met local boxer Ruby Shirley of Knowsley Vale Boxing Club.

The Hamer team had been told that it was to be a skills bout where both boxers lead with their jabs in the first round. Then in the second round both participants could throw one, two combinations, before they were allowed to throw any combination in the third and last round whilst the referee kept a firm eye on both contestants.

The bell rang for the first round and Scarlett came out of the blue corner with her jab, only to receive a right cross to the face from her opponent. Scarlett continued to use her jab whilst her opponent landed another right hand to the chin. The Hamer youngster received yet another right hand to the chin before she realised what was happening, when the referee didn’t warn the Knowsley Vale boxer for her actions. From there on Scarlett began to unload punches of her own as her opponent moved towards her. It was at that moment that the Knowsley Vale boxer realised she was in a contest with a very focussed opponent who didn’t show any signs of fear.

Scarlett instantly set about her much taller opponent when she forced her onto the ropes to unload punches to both the body and head. Her opponent continued to land her long reaching right hand, which at one point knocked Scarlett’s gum-shield out of her mouth. But as soon as her mouth guard was cleaned and placed back into her mouth, Scarlett set about her opponent with fast hands, which forced Shirley onto the ropes once again, where the Hamer youngster unloaded more telling blows. Then just before the bell rang to end the round, Scarlett landed a jab to the body, followed by a solid right hand to the chin.

When Scarlett settled down in her corner after the bell, her coach Steven Connellan told her to continue with her aggressive approach and to force her opponent onto the rope before unloading hooks to both her body and head.

The Hamer youngster stormed out of her corner on the sound of the second bell to land two right hands to the head. The Knowsley Vale boxer tried to keep her range at first as she landed a straight one-two combination as Scarlett moved in. This didn’t deter the Hamer youngster, who continued to force her Liverpool opponent around the ring and onto the ropes with aggressive combinations and as the round progressed, her opponent began to constantly back away from the onslaught she was receiving. Scarlett was told to continue with her assertive approach by her coach when the round ended.

The bell rang for the third and last round and the Hamer youngster bounced onto her feet ready for action, before she realised that her opponent had refused to come out for the final round. This led to Scarlett having her arm raised on her own, instead of both girls together.

Scarlett’s coach Steven Connellan said afterwards: "We were told that Scarlett was too strong for her opponent, yet days before the bout, I asked specifically if it was a controlled bout where they only throw a jab in the first round and was told yes by the Knowsley Vale boxing coach, so Scarlett attempted to do that only to realise that wehad been misled by the Liverpool coach, which soon back-fired upon him."

The next Hamer boxer to step into the ring was 12-year-old Connor “The Removal Man” Middleton, who was contesting his first ever competitive bout when he met another Knowsley Vale boxer called George Cole. Having seen what his teammate Scarlett had just achieved, Connor knew he had to go out there in the first round and show the judges what he was capable of.

When the bell rang to start the contest, Connor came out smashing his gloves together, determined to give an impressive performance and when he instantly forced Cole onto the ropes to land his hooks to the body and head, his opponent wrapped his arms around his neck, before the referee stepped in to split them apart.

Cole then forced his Hamer opponent back with telling punches, only to receive another accumulation of punches from the Rochdale youngster, which led Cole to grab hold of his aggressive opponent once again before the referee stepped in to split them apart. The referee finished giving the Knowsley Vale boxer a warning for holding and Connor instantly stepped in to unload a cracking right hand to the chin. The Hamer boxer landed yet another right hand to the face which forced his opponent to put his head down and the referee stepped in again the warn Cole to keep his head up.

Just before the bell rang to end the round, Connor moved forward to force his opponent into the neutral corner where he landed an incessant barrage of punches. There wasn’t much his coach could tell him when Connor came back to his corner, but he did remined the Hamer boxer to keep both his guard and his head up when he approached his opponent.

The bell rang to start the second round, both boxers instantly clashed in the middle of the ring with telling punches, before Cole was warned once again for holding. By this time the Hamer boxer had gained his momentum as he repeatedly forced his opponent around the ring with his aggressive approach and when the bell rang for the third and last round, Connor instantly stormed into his opponent with more telling punches. This continued until he landed a fantastic right hook to the jaw, which instantly forced Cole onto his back foot.

The Hamer youngster realised he had hurt his opponent, so he forced Cole into the neutral corner where he continued his assault before the referee stepped in to give Cole a standing eight count. As soon as he was allowed to continue, Connor rushed over to his opponent to unload more telling punches, followed by a right hand which abruptly forced Cole’s head back once again and the referee immediately stepped in to give Cole another standing eight count, before calling an end to the contest in the Hamer boxer’s favour.

Two days later, on Saturday 8 October, 23-year-old Bethany “The Blue Toffee” Connellan travelled to Landau Sixth Form College in Tamworth, Staffordshire to meet Georgia Keast of Tamworth in the National Quarter Finals. The Hamer team knew that they had a challenge ahead of them when they realised that her opponent was boxing in her home town, but when they got there they also realised that her father had also arranged the facility for the competition for England Boxing. So they knew that they had a mountain to climb before they even stepped into the ring. Having said that, Bethany Connellan was still confident that she could get the win.

 

 

When the bell rang to start the contest, Bethany stepped out of the blue corner to land two solid punches to the head. This continued throughout the round, with the Hamer boxer constantly landing her rear handed punch to the face of Keast, followed by a right hook to the side of the head as her opponent backed off.

Keast came out for round two looking to regroup and get back into the fight when she caught the Hamer boxer with a solid right hand to the chin, which instantly forced Bethany’s head back. But it wasn’t long before the Hamer boxer started to force her opponent onto her back foot again as she constantly landed her rear hand upon the chin of Keast, who repeatedly held her arms up to her face before pushing Bethany’s head back with her gloves.

Georgia Keast’s corner must have pushed the emergency button because she stormed out in the third and last round to take the fight back to her Hamer foe with constant work rate as she forced her opponent’s head back with more telling right hands to the face before holding up her gloves again to push the Hamer boxer’s head back as Bethany stepped back into the action. Although this continued throughout the round, the Hamer team were surprised when the local boxer had her arm raised in victory.

Hamer head coach Steven Connellan said afterwards: "We thought that Bethany had done more than enough to take the win, but when her opponent had her arm raised, it told me everything that is wrong that is happening in the sport of boxing at the moment."