Boxing: Hamer Boxing Club reports

Two boxers represented Hamer Amateur Boxing Club when competing in the North West Junior Championship Finals at Blackburn Youth Zone, Blackburn, on Saturday 4 March.

The first Hamer boxer to step into the ring that day was 15-year-old Austin 'Powers' Heneghan, who was matched against Tyree Holden, of Accrington Lions.

When the bell rang for the first round, both boxers came out using their jabs to find their range before attempting to land their right hands. This went on throughout the round as both boxers gained success in a very closely fought opening round.

Before the start of round two, the Hamer coach, Steven Connellan, told Austin that he had to use his aggression much more and take the fight to his opponent and not wait too long in-between exchanges of punches with Holden.

The bell rang for round two and both boxers came out probing with their jabs once again. Then Holden suddenly attacked whilst landing his right hand, followed by his left hook to the side of the head, which forced Austin onto the ropes where he tried to match his opponent with multiple punches of his own.

As the round progressed, Holden began to catch Austin with the more telling punches, as Austin waited too long to counter-punch his opponent. The punches Holden were landing led to the referee momentarily stopping the bout to clear the flow of blood coming from the Hamer boxer’s nose.

When the bout was allowed to continue, Austin suddenly attacked his opponent with fast and furious one-two combinations before the bell rang to end the round.

Connellan told Austin that the bout was too close to call and was still up for grabs, so he told his boxer to step onto his front foot and take the fight to the next level, if he was to become North West Champion.

When the bell for the third and last round, Austin stepped to the centre of the ring with his probing jab to force Holden onto his back foot before he unleashed his right hand, which was answered instantly with a solid left hook to the side of his head from Holden.

Holden began to move on his front foot towards his Hamer opponent, as both boxers landed clever counter-punches upon each other, but the flow of blood from Austin’s nose led the referee to stop the bout once again to clear it away.

Before the contest was allowed to continue, and when both boxers came into range, Austin landed three swift right hands to the head, which led to both boxers exchanging some heavy punches upon each other before the bell sounded to end the round.

It was a very close contest that saw both boxers land some terrific punches through-out all three rounds, but in the end, it was Holden’s aggressive approach that won him the North-West title via a very close split-decision.

The Hamer coaches had no time to dwell upon the outcome of the bout between Austin and his opponent, because they had to quickly move towards the red corner to glove up 15-year-old 'Charming' Alfie McKay, who was competing in the very next bout against Charlie Briggs, of Next Generation Boxing Club.

The bell rang for the first round, both boxers began quickly as they landed swift one-two combinations upon each other. This continued throughout the round as both boxers gained success with their right hands to the chin.

Then, as Alfie approached his opponent, Briggs unleashed a heavy right hand to his chin, which instantly led the referee to step in and administer a standing eight count to the Hamer boxer. But when the bout was allowed to continue, the Hamer coach noticed that Briggs was very tentative in his approach towards Alfie.

As the round ended, so he told his Hamer boxer that he thought Briggs was tiring already and suggested that Alfie take the bout to his opponent, but to watch out for his right hand.

When both boxers met in the centre of the ring for the second round, Alfie began to land swift combinations, whilst Briggs missed with wild swings.

On occasion one of those swings would land, but by now the Hamer boxer was set in his ways and his determined approach to the contest, which led him to press forward and force Briggs onto the ropes where he landed more swift combinations to both the body and head. Briggs continued to step backwards as Alfie landed punch after punch, whilst stepping out of range from Briggs' wild swings.

At one point Alfie had Briggs trapped in the neutral corner and the Next Generation boxer received a warning from the referee for putting his head down.

The referee issued another warning to Briggs when he began to hold his opponent whilst hitting him as he lay upon the ropes taking heavy punishment from the Hamer boxer. Then Briggs momentarily trapped Alfie in the blue corner, before the Hamer boxer used swift footwork to spin around and trap Briggs in the same corner, whereupon he landed punch after punch upon him for a good fifteen seconds before the bell rang to end the round.

Hamer coach Connellan congratulated Alfie on his no-nonsense approach in that round and he told him that if he wanted victory then he would have to pick up the pace of the action even more, because Briggs looked totally exhausted.

As soon as the bell rang for the third and last round, Alfie stormed out of his corner to meet his opponent, who momentarily stood his ground to unleash some wild swinging bombardment before he became drained and weary once again, whilst backing off into the neutral corner where he received another caution from the referee for holding.

When the bout was allowed to continue, Alfie forced Briggs back into the neutral corner again and his exhausted opponent could do nothing but hold onto his Hamer antagonist. Then, as Briggs received yet another warning, Alfie quickly stepped in to land an enormous right hand to the chin, which instantly led the referee to step in and administer Briggs a standing eight count.

As the count finished, Alfie went straight to work once again as he landed swift, straight-armed combinations to the head whilst staying out of range from Briggs wild swings. When the bell rang to end the contest, Alfie had his arm raised by the referee to gain victory and the North West title.

Coach Connellan said: "Both boxers put in a terrific performance, which totally entertained the crowd. Alfie boxed incredibly to come back from a standing eight count, to administer his opponent the same count as he took command of the bout, but sadly, Austin didn’t gain the title because he didn’t step upon his front foot enough, which might have gained him success in such a very closely fought contest."