Boxing: Hamer ABC at Northwest Region of Championships semi-final

Aeron Maddocks and Monir Miah with coaches Frank Maddocks and Steven Connellan

15-year-old Aeron ‘The Viking’ Maddocks had to scale a mountain when he was matched against England international Jake Abrol of Sharpstyle Boxing Club in the semi-final of the 60kg, Class A, NABGC Northwest Region Championships at Tameside Boxing Gym on Sunday 28 October.

Abrol, a very experienced veteran of 43 contest with 36 wins and only 7 defeats, immediately showed why he was an England international when the bell rang for round one: he unloaded swift and hurtful punches to both the body and head whilst the Hamer boxer tried to land solid shots in return. 

Maddocks came out for the second round and he began to take the fight to his Sharpstyle opponent and force him onto the ropes where he unloaded hooks to the body and head which brought blood from his opponent’s nose.

However, it wasn't long before Abrol began to land blows of his own to the body, which clearly hurt Maddocks but incredibly the Hamer youngster bit down hard upon his gum shield and, to the delight of the crowd, began to fight back. 

At the start of the third and last round, both boxers stood in the centre of the ring to unload savage punches upon each other, but as time passed, it was Abrol who impressed the judges with his swift and hurtful punching to get the win. 

When Team Hamer left the ring, they experienced something rarely seen at boxing matches any more.

As they made their way through the crowd, numerous individuals came up to shake Maddocks' hand and pat him on the back, congratulating him on such a terrific performance whilst many others in the crowd continued to clap and applaud him.

Sadly, the same fate fell upon 17-year-old Monir ‘Real Money’ Miah when he met the more experienced Umar Niaz of Technique ABC in the semi-final of the 64kg, Class C championships.

From the very start, Niaz used his experience to step into the Hamer boxer's path with two and three punch combinations to the head before tying up Miah's arms to stifle his work.

This continued throughout the whole of the match without any intervention from the referee, which frustrated the Hamer corner.

Monir did manage to land some hurtful punches on occasion, but it wasn't enough to take the verdict.