Colchester ABC staged their first Open Show for many years on Sat 10th May.
A busy crowd congregated at Sir Charles Lucas School for an evening’s Amateur Boxing and the bouts on offer didn’t fail to delight. The evening commenced with a scheduled 17 contests, however, first home club boxer Sam Taylor was about to step into the ring for his eagerly anticipated rematch with J .Nicholls from Norwich, when it became apparent Nicholls had unfortunately been taken ill and the bout had to be cancelled.
Next up for Colchester was
Dean Porter, a student at Sir Charles Lucas so very much boxing on home soil. He faced H. Price of West Ham ABC in what was always going to be a real test of Dean’s recent improvement. Conceding age, height and experience Dean started in determined fashion and was quickly into his stride scoring heavy shots and forcing Price onto the back foot. Price improved in round 2 and landed some clean shots as Dean’s onslaught lost a bit of pace. With it all to go for in the last, Dean dug deep and matched the West Ham boxer blow for blow to keep him in contention right through to the bell. The verdict of the supporters was split and so it proved with the judges with the result being a majority verdict for Dean to make it 3 wins in the last 3 weeks!
First senior up for C.A.B.C saw a return to action for
Billy Smart. Billy faced off against A. Ibrahim from Islington club. The North London boxer was soon into his stride with a very tidy style as Billy hustled and bustled and tried to get on top. Ibrahim was forced to hang in there at times as Smart looked to land heavy combinations, but in general he used his boxing to stay in front throughout to finish a worthy though close points winner. Billy will do well from the experience and the chance to shake off some ring rust.
Following on from Smart was young Colchester Middleweight
Chris Wynn. This venue proved unlucky for Chris 2 seasons ago where he suffered his only defeat to date, and unfortunately history was to repeat itself this time. Chris faced Jay Pjetri from West Ham, a known heavy puncher with an all action style. Chris started brightly and used his skill to pick up points whilst Pjetri had to be content with trying to close the range. As the pace of the contest intensified the West Ham boxer started to get some success with heavy shots to the head, but Chris stayed in contention with stinging counters of his own. The bout finished as close as it had started with Pjetri gaining a majority judges verdict. Wynn was very close to taking the result, and should only benefit from the experience, and such a positive performance in the future.
Third Senior to see action was Welterweight
Dom McGurl, returning to action swiftly following a shock defeat a week previous. Up against M. Cooper from New Astley (Newmarket) it was soon apparent that the Suffolk man was in determined mood.
Dom quickly found the range with his jab and started scoring effectively and was soon backing this up with right crosses and left hooks. Although Cooper tried his hardest to turn things around, Dom kept in command with a fine display of counterpunching and repeatedly caught Cooper coming in with heavy shots. The New Astley boxer though showed a granite chin and stuck it out to the end. McGurl by a unanimous decision was the only possible outcome.
Dom also received the trophy for "best home boxer of the night".
Closing the show was CABC’s newest senior
Mo Khan. Hot on the heels of last weeks debut win he faced B. Hudson of Eltham ABC. The stocky Hudson looked content to wait and hope that Khan would make mistakes. Mo tried to box behind his jab but was struggling to find the range. Hudson was always looking to counter with a big right hand as soon as Mo committed. This set the pattern for a cagey affair with not much to choose between them at the end. 1 judge went for Khan but 2 for Hudson giving the away boxer a winning debut.
The Colchester Coaches were pleased with the efforts of their boxers and the 2 wins from 5 could easily have been a lot different. A great show matched by Martin Webb from Harwich in which the Colchester squad can take pride in their performances and go on using this experience for the future.
Full results below
| Junior |
| |
name |
club |
Decision |
name |
club |
| 1 |
r. dunne |
sandy |
L U PTS |
d. gunn |
harwich |
| 2 |
p. ellis |
west ham |
L U PTS |
m. smith |
finchley |
| 3 |
b. bocking |
harwich |
L M PTS |
a. ward |
islington |
| 4 |
d. porter |
colchester |
W M PTS |
h. price |
west ham |
| 5 |
j. hardy |
waltham forest |
L RSC 2 |
g. potter |
harwich |
| 6 |
b. rodgers |
alma |
L M PTS |
k. lawrence |
centurions |
| 7 |
g. penny |
barking |
L M PTS |
j. avenell |
harwich |
| 8 |
d. hedges |
west ham |
W M PTS |
s. green |
centurions |
| 9 |
b. kenway |
centurions |
L U PTS |
b. cannon |
harwich |
| 10 |
g. griffin |
centurions |
W M PTS |
b. mccamlie |
west ham |
| 11 |
l. giles |
castle |
L M PTS |
j. osbourne |
harwich |
| Senior |
| 12 |
b. smart |
colchester |
L M PTS |
a. ibrahim |
islington |
| 13 |
m. khan |
colchester |
L M PTS |
b. hudson |
eltham |
| 14 |
j. pjetri |
west ham |
W M PTS |
c. wynn |
colchester |
| 15 |
d. mcgurl |
colchester |
W U PTS |
m. cooper |
new astley |
| 16 |
b. adams |
tilbury dockers |
L U PTS |
l. forte |
clacton |
Were you there? Let us know what you thought of the evening. 