Classy Rose ensures evening ends on a high

THE main man was kept under wraps, but there was still plenty to shout about at St Pierre Park Hotel on Friday night. A string of belting bouts climaxed with Alderney light-heavyweight Adam Rose producing a superb performance to defeat London Select's Mark Atkins on a split decision.

The Ridunian recovered from taking a harsh standing count in the first to force a standing count of his own in the third.

Atkins was caught by two fierce lefts in quick succession and was obviously rattled near the end of a superbly matched contest which took the bout-of-the-evening award.

Less classy but no less exciting was the super-heavyweight contest featuring novices Steve Owen of Guernsey and London's Rob Widmer.

The two virtually punched themselves to a standstill and at the end the Londoner was clearly disappointed to lose on a split verdict.

Local junior light-welterweight James Woolnough continues to impress and won a unanimous decision against Craig Harvey.

Amalgamated Boxing Club coach Graham Guilbert is delighted with Woolnough's steady progress.

'He boxed well and within himself,' he said.

'I think if he had pushed it a bit, he might have stopped his opponent.'

Local light-heavy Alan Myers won in convincing style, beating fellow novice Michael Gallagher in an entertaining all-action bout which always hinted at a stoppage.

Myers won comfortably on all three judges' cards.

But until the Rose-Atkins bout one contest stood out from the others in terms of skill levels.

Juniors Bradley Watson (Guernsey) and Gary Corcoran had met previously and the local lad has impressed in training, working closely with Ben Duff as he sought to avenge a previous loss against the little London lad with a record of 12 wins from 15.

Watson enjoyed a height advantage but over three enterprising rounds struggled to keep Corcoran at bay.

The local boy took a standing count in the second and battled bravely to still be on his feet at the end of the third.

Corcoran has a full range of shots and was prepared to use them. By the end he had won on all three scorecards: 18-11, 15-8, 14-5.

In other junior contests, there were points wins for Guernsey lad Adam Baker and Alderney's Ashley Foster, while Tom Maunder and Craig Sumner fought bravely without quite doing enough.