Boxing: Austin gets hat-trick

11-year-old Austin Heneghan made it three wins in a row in the space of just three weeks when he travelled to Smokey O'Connors in Morecombe to meet Marcus Burrows of Coastal Amateur Boxing Club on Saturday 9 March.

On the sound of the first bell Heneghan was confronted by a much taller and heavier opponent as well as a rowdy, partisan crowd that was fully behind the local lad. 

In the first couple of seconds the Hamer youngster began by feeling out Burrows with his jab whilst maintaining his distance.

He suddenly went to work in his relentless ambition to win the bout by applying non-stop pressure upon his opponent with all action punch combinations.

At first Burrows tried to keep up with the pace of the action the Rochdale lad had set, but it soon became apparent that Heneghan’s actions were influencing the judges as he forced Burrows onto the ropes and around the ring with his non-stop punching.

Burrows tried to keep Heneghan at bay with swinging punches but the Hamer lad was connecting every time with straight and accurate, precision punches onto the chin of Burrows and just before the bell rang to end the round, Heneghan forced his opponent into his own corner before unloading more telling punches.

The bell rang for the second round and Heneghan instantly landed a straight one-two combination to the face and Burrows immediately grabbed hold of his opponent. Burrows continued to back off as the Rochdale boxer pursued his opponent around the ring. 

On occasion Burrows rushed forward with punches that caught Heneghan, but the Hamer lad replied every time with fast and accurate punch combinations to show the judges that he was in total control and as the round progressed, he landed a cracking right-hand cross to the chin as the Coastal boxer came rushing towards him.  

At the start of the third and last round both boxers took to the centre of the ring and stood toe to toe throwing and unloading punches upon each other.

The noise from the crowd raised the roof as both boxers continued to set upon each other.

Heneghan then landed a lovely right hook to the side of his opponent’s head and Burrows began to back off and as the round progressed the Coastal boxer began to tire whilst the Hamer boxer continued to push forward.

Just before the bell sounded to end the contest, Heneghan forced Burrows into his own corner again, but the Coastal boxer used neat footwork to turn the Hamer boxer and unload punches upon him. It wasn't enough to influence the judges who all voted in favour of Heneghan by unanimous decision. 

Hamer coach Alan Bacon said: "That was an excellent performance by Austin Heneghan, he had it against him from the very start with his opponent being much taller and stronger than him, whilst the crowd showed him no support. 

“Yet he just brushed everything aside and fought at a terrific pace.

“Although he is young and relatively inexperienced, we expect great things from this youngster and we will not be surprised if he is to become the next in a long line of home grown champions."