ABC put on fine display in front of packed house

THE stars of the Amalgamated Boys' Club are shining brightly. As coach Graham Guilbert had predicted, Matt Jennings had little trouble in the top-of-the-bill bout against Mark Julion - the Manchester Select boxer being stopped midway through the first round - but it was the up-and-coming youngsters who took most of the plaudits at an extremely entertaining Beau Sejour Open Show on Saturday.

Bradley Watson, in particular, was determined to put on a show as he got a rare outing.

Josh Cunniliffe was a very capable opponent and the two enjoyed a couple of good exchanges in the opening round but as the bout wore on Watson showed a great maturity in cleverly picking his punches.

Guilbert has described him as a Rottweiler and when he spots an opening he goes for it, but he also showed good patience and technique against an evasive opponent to win by unanimous verdict in what was deservedly acclaimed the junior bout of the night.

That was followed by Tom Martin's first appearance since he became the Western Counties schoolboys champion.

He was up against another Cunniliffe, Ben this time, and the boxers went toe-to-toe in an explosive first round but it was the home favourite who landed the more-telling punches throughout, as was shown when the Manchester corner pulled him out of the contest after that initial two minutes.

Martin was rewarded for his performance by being named junior boxer of the evening by Steve Walshaw, the visiting Manchester coach.

At that stage of the evening, the overall match score was three bouts each.

Earlier Alderney's Joel Mitten had earned the Channel Islanders' other victory with an impressive first-round stoppage of Patrick Hall.

In the other three early contests, an injured right shoulder forced James Woolnough to retire in the second round, despite having the better of his meeting with Richard Burns; Simon Murphy was stopped in the second against Will Baines while Danny Harvey lost on a majority decision to Colin Fowdry. That latter bout was arguably the best of the evening, being a real ding-dong battle.

Harvey, in only his second contest, looked understandably nervous early on but he came back strongly after a busy opening from Fowdry in the first round.

He then had to recover from a great right hand in the second and had Fowdry back-pedalling with a terrific left of his own, before finishing strongly despite taking a standing eight count in the final two minutes.

Harvey was fully deserving of the belt presented by Walshaw at the end of the evening.

But from three bouts apiece, the home side suddenly found themselves trailing 6-3 at the second interval.

Adam Falla put in a very gutsy display against Adam Hornby but in the final round he was caught flush on the chin with a stunning punch for the visitor to win by knockout.

Simon Hainsworth showed a lot of potential in an even contest with Lee Campbell, although tiredness told in the final round when the ABC member took a standing eight. Campbell went on to win a unanimous decision.

Then Alderney's Emile Phelan enjoyed a competitive contest with Chris Brannan but just lost out on a majority verdict.

Manchester Select made it four bouts on the trot immediately after the second interval.

Dave Young's slightly longer reach might have just edged the first round in the Guernseyman's favour but Chris Johnson caught him with a superb right hook in a toe-to-toe second round and the referee stopped the bout.

But then the islanders enjoyed an upturn in fortunes starting with the senior bout of the night.

Adam Rose, the last of the Alderney competitors, and Lee Kellet put on a superb show for the lively sell-out crowd, which after two entertaining rounds, finished in amazing fashion with the boxers battling out a slugfest of a final two minutes.

The Alderney man won the unanimous decision.

Matt Clark was then a far more emphatic winner as he dominated Andrew Tippler, knocking him down twice with good left hand shots before the referee stopped the bout in the first round with the Manchester man in trouble once more.

In the penultimate contest, Michael Duff and Stuart Maddoch were fairly even although the ABC man's reach gave him the edge and he seemed to land more punches, especially in the final round. He won, although on a split decision.

Unfortunately, the main event of the evening did not really live up to its billing as Jennings had far too much power and class for Julion.

Once the Western Counties light heavyweight champion had connected with a beautiful right hand early on, it signalled the beginning of the end for his opponent.

Overall score - Guernsey 7, Manchester Select 7.