Jennings' body shot brings about a swift KO

MATT JENNINGS is back and he is hitting hard. Just ask his latest opponent, Connor Tohill, whom the big Guernseyman had no problems stopping in the first round of their cruiserweight bout at Friday night's packed dinner boxing event at St Pierre Park.

The clash was the top of the bill between an Irish select team and the Amalgamated Boxing Club that turned out to be a good night for the Guernsey club as they won six of the eight bouts.

Jennings has missed out on his last couple of bouts after no-shows by his opponents and he took out his frustration on Tohill to win by a knockout when the Belfast boxer failed to recover from a punishing body shot in the first round.

Jennings saw the fight as a good preparation for when Guernsey face a Manchester select team on Friday 18 February.

'I enjoyed that as long as it lasted,' said the 28-year-old.

'I must have caught him with a good one to the body and he didn't want to carry on. He seemed sharp early on, but I caught him with a combination in the corner and that changed it.

'It was good to get in there and have a bout. It was a good little warm-up for the one we've got in three weeks' time at Beau Sejour against Manchester.'

Tohill came into the ring with a good reputation, being a former Irish Championships semi-finalist. The Jennings contest was reportedly his last fight as an amateur before turning professional.

In the opening exchanges, he did look a handful as he came out hungry, forcing Jennings to clam up at one point.

But after a number of crushing head shots from the home favourite, Tohill looked to start to wane after a couple of minutes. The finishing blow was an inconspicuous-looking body shot but was full of sting that left him on his haunches.

Tohill rose before the eighth count but referee Ian Lyndsay still decided that he had had enough, much to chagrin of the partisan St Pierre Park crowd.

Jennings' coach Graham Guilbert believed Lyndsay was right to end the fight when he did.

'The bloke couldn't carry on,' said Guilbert.

'He got caught from a right hand from Jennings. He is such a powerful man, he really is.

'It was just a matter of time as the other lad didn't have a powerful hit. They have all done well tonight and they are all coming on. To do a team like that was really good and they were a strong team.'

The first five bouts all went Guernsey's way and stalwart timekeeper Gary de Carteret was impressed enough to say they were the best he had seen in years.

Adam Baker got the ball rolling for Guernsey in the first 44kg bout as he comfortably won on points over Martin Drain.

Up next it was Guernsey's own 34kg showman, Bradley Watson, in his green and white tassel shorts against Brian McKiernan. After a number of cheeky body swerves and some nice combinations, Watson strolled home with a unanimous points decision.

The third bout was a clash between two featherweight county champions, local boy James Woolnough, the western counties champion and Ulster schoolboy champion Daniel McDonnell.

The promising Woolnough knew he was in a battle in the opening round as he led with his left but left himself open and McDonnell kept picking him off.

Despite that, the dancing Woolnough was up on points as he was doing all the work. It culminated in a standing count for the Irish lad in the last round.

Woolnough took the honours, with the judges scoring it 13-3, 18-4 and 13-5 in his favour.

The fight was probably closer than that and both boxers' efforts earned them the bout-of-the-evening award.

'He was tough: he was like a piece of iron,' said Woolnough.

'I've left everything in the ring. In the third round, I remembered Mike Tyson telling me not to give up until the final breath and that kept me going.'

The fourth and fifth fights went Guernsey's way as Matt Sawbridge and Callum Pearson both stopped their opponents, Tom Duffy and Gerard Murphy respectively, inside two rounds.

After the interval, the tide turned as local lad Blane Queripel lost a bruising battle with James Morris.

Although it was not one for the purists, it was an entertaining affair in which the two boxers went toe for toe for three two-minute rounds and neither man backed down.

But it was Queripel's hesitancy at times that cost him dearly as judges awarded the victory to Morris in his first amateur bout.

Irish eyes were smiling again soon afterwards as their welterweight, Bernard Manning, won quickly against Alderney's Joel Mitten.

The Irish also took the penultimate fight when James Faloon won on points over Sarnian Danny Froome in their middleweight clash.