Boxing: Hamer Boxing Club land a win and a loss at championships

Hamer Boxing Club travelled to Richard Rose Morton Academy in Carlisle, Cumbria, with two boxers competing in the championships on Sunday 19 March.

The first boxer to step into the ring that day was 20-year-old Aeron 'The Viking' Maddocks, who was matched against Duke Scott, of the Fight Factory, in the North West Senior Quarter Finals.

On the sound of the first bell, Aeron came out of the red corner using his probing jab whilst keeping his distance from his strongly built opponent, who was constantly looking to land his heavy punches.

As the round progressed, the Hamer boxer began to find his range with one-twos to the head of his opponent, before quickly stepping out of range from Scott’s heavy swinging hooks.

When the Manchester boxer did manage to land a shot, Aeron was quick to reply with slick punches of his own, before stepping out of range.

Before the start of round two, Hamer coach Steven Connellan told his boxer that he thought Scott was tiring already.

He suggested that Aeron up the action more and take the fight to his opponent but to always be aware of those heavy punches Scott was trying to unload.

The bell rang for the second round and Aeron instantly came out to land his right hand upon the chin, which forced Scott onto his back foot whilst his head shot back from the force of the punch.

Aeron continued to force the action against his much stronger looking opponent, before neatly stepping out of range from Scott’s swinging hooks.

The Fight Factory boxer continued to step forward with his swinging hooks, whilst the Hamer boxer cunningly used the ring to stay out of range before quickly stepping back into the action to land his one two combinations to the head of his on-coming opponent.

Before the start of the third and last round, the Hamer corner noticed that Scott had some bruising around his right eye, so the coach told Aeron to focus his punches upon the injury.

When the bell rang to start the round, the referee instantly stepped in to momentarily stop the contest to lead Scott to the ringside doctor. After an intense examination, the doctor told the referee that the injury was too severe for the contest to continue, so the referee stopped the contest in favour of the Hamer boxer.

 

 

15-year-old 'Charming' Alfie McKay was the next Hamer boxer to step into the ring that day when he was matched against Sam Sampson of Manor Boxing Academy in the National Junior Quarter Finals.

The bell rang for round one and Sampson quickly unloaded a right hand, which Alfie slipped before landing his own right hand to the head.

Both boxers began to find their range with their jabs and right hands, in-which Sampson gained a slight advantage.

Then, as both boxers unloaded punches upon each other in the neutral corner, Alfie landed a cracking right hand to the head and Sampson ended upon the floor, only for the referee to deem it a slip before the bell rang to signal the end of the round.

Before the start of round two, the Hamer coach asked Alfie to intensify the action with sharper punches, but to always anticipate Sampson’s right hand.

When the bell rang, both boxers came out looking for openings. Then Sampson threw his right hand, which Alfie managed to step back out of range from, before stepping back in to land a right hand of his own.

But this time Sampson was ready and he quickly answered with another right hand to the face. From there on, Alfie began to force Sampson around the ring with a continuous delivery of combination punches.

Sampson replied with single punches whilst constantly lowering his head and grabbing hold of his Hamer opponent when Alfie stepped in close.

Connellan told Alfie to give it all he had in the third and last round of this closely fought contest.

When he heard to sound of the bell, the Hamer boxer instantly came out on his front foot to throw his right hand, which Sampson slipped before answering with a right hand of his own to his on-coming opponent.

This happened on three separate occasions before Alfie began to find his range once again and he constantly forced Sampson upon his back foot and around the ring with continuous punches, which led to the Sheffield boxer receiving two warnings from the referee for holding.

Yet, although the Hamer corner thought Alfie had done enough to take the decision, it was the Yorkshire boxer who had his arm raised in victory.

The Hamer coach Steven Connellan said: "It was a closely fought and highly entertaining contest in which I thought Alfie had done enough to win.

"But we cannot dwell upon it too much, because it was still a fabulous achievement by Alfie to reach the last eight in the country in his first-ever open class championship competition."