Boxing: Shahruf Ali in national final

Shahruf Ali, Hamer Amateur Boxing Club

Shahruf Ali, of Hamer Amateur Boxing Club, progressed to to the 44KG Open Class National Final when he beat Liam Jones of Droitwich ABC at Grantham Meres Leisure Centre, Grantham, Lincolnshire on Sunday.

In the first round, the much taller Jones tried to use his range to keep Ali at bay while the Ali looked to get inside and unload punches to the body.

It was a fast and frantic first round that saw both boxers gain success in the early stages but as the round moved on Ali began to take control. He cunningly allowed Jones to throw his one-two combination punches, which the Hamer boxer caught on his gloves. Then he unloaded a three to four punch combination to both the body and head. It was a tactic that constantly worked and Jones head was jolted back on many occasions.

Jones took to the middle of the ring in the second round, planted his feet and began to unload his power punches. The tactic played into Ali's hands and the Rochdale boxer met him with determined intensity as he shifted into another gear and began landing hurtful punches to the body before finishing with big hooks to the head.

Jones began to tire from the onslaught and all he could do was to stand his ground and try to match Ali with punches, but the Hamer youngster's volume of punches overwhelmed the Droitwich boxer and Ali began to jolt his head back with upper cuts.

In the third and final round, Ali attacked his opponent with intent to show the judges he was in control. He threw a whirlwind of punches that Jones couldn't match and his constant pressure continuously forced his opponent onto the back foot and onto the ropes, where Ali continued to land hooks to the body before finishing with his upper cut.

Ali was in total control of the contest by now, yet his very tired opponent showed great determination to try and match, but the unanimous decision went in Ali's favour.

Hamer coach Alan Bacon said: "What a performance that was.

“Shahruf is improving all of the time, and what determination he showed after such a long wait when the championships where cancelled at the last minute by the police on the grounds of public safety based on information they received last weekend in Essex.

“14-year-old Jude English also represented Hamer in the National Semi-Finals but was unsuccessful against last year's champion Jessica Williams of Selby ABC.”