Boxing: Wins for four Hamer boxers

Four Hamer boxers gained a hat-trick of wins when they travelled to Congleton Town Hall on Saturday 11 May.

First on for Hamer was 11-year-old Charlie Braddock who started the first round on the front foot by constantly taking the fight to his opponent, Tom Richardson, of Macclesfield Boys Boxing Club.

Braddock used fast feet to keep on top of Richardson whilst using a quick double jab, followed by swift hooks to the body and face.

Round two started in much the same vain, with Braddock leading with his purposeful work rate that constantly forced his opponent back, but as the round progressed the Macclesfield boxer began to claw his way back into the contest with crisp counter-punches that caught Braddock as he came in.

In the third and last round, Braddock continued to push forward, but he was answered with a solid right hand that forced the referee to intervene and give the Hamer boxer a standing eight count.

As soon as the count had finished, Braddock took the fight back to Richardson and landed solid right hands of his own leading up to the final bell.

It was a very close encounter between both opponents, but in the end the verdict was awarded to Richardson.

The next Hamer boxer to step into the ring was 11-year-old Austin Heneghan who met George Oliver of Beartown Boxing Club. On the sound of the first bell both boxers stormed out of their respective corners to throw and land punch after punch upon each other.

As the round progressed, Heneghan began to compose himself that little bit more and he waited for Oliver to come towards him before unloading smart counter-punches that caught the Beartown boxer as he rushed in.

At the start of the second round, the Beartown boxer rushed into the Rochdale boxer once again with punches coming from all angles, but by then Heneghan had found his rhythm and he managed to catch Oliver with fast counter-punches and a solid upper-cut that constantly jolted the Beartown boxer's chin up into the air.

Oliver was relentless in his work rate, even in the third and last round, but the Hamer boxer stayed calm and continued to catch the Beartown fighter as he moved towards him and as the round progressed, Heneghan began to take the fight to Oliver; backing the Beartown boxer up whilst landing solid one-two combinations to the head, which gave him the round and the win by unanimous decision.

The third Hamer boxer to step into the ring that night was 11-year-old Ben Braddock who was matched against Harry Szmit of Macclesfield Boys Boxing Club.

Boxing from his southpaw stance, the Hamer boxer used his long reach to take advantage in the first round when his opponent constantly came towards him, only to be meet by a solid left-hand punch to the jaw.

The second and third rounds were much the same with Braddock using his long range to score quick combinations as the brave and determined Macclesfield boxer continued to push forward, only to be met by solid blows, which gave the Hamer boxer victory by unanimous decision.

The last boxer to make Rochdale proud was 18-year-old Monir Miah who took up the challenge of Sam Byram, also from Beartown Boxing Club.

The first round started with both boxers using their jabs to find their range. Miah then landed a crisp right hand to the chin which spurred Byram on to take the fight to the Hamer boxer. Miah backed off to allow Byram to come towards him and when he did, he was met with hard blows to the head and body.

Towards the end of the round, Miah caught the local boxer with three solid blows to the head, but, to be fair to Byram, he continued to press forward with punches of his own.

In the second round Miah caught Byram with a superb left hook to the side of the head, followed by a terrific right hand to the chin, then he landed a double jab to force his opponent onto the ropes before landing more punches to the body and head. Byram replied with punches of his own before stepping in close and grabbing hold of the Hamer boxer.

The holding continued throughout the round, yet it didn't stop the Hamer boxer from landing a telling shot to take the rounds.

At the start of the last round, both boxers missed with wild punches and tangled themselves up as they came in close, then Miah found his range again and landed three or four solid blows which forced Byram back into his own corner. Miah continued to land more heavy blows to both the body and head.

The punches Miah landed suddenly had Byram tiring and he began to constantly hold whilst the Hamer boxer took control of the round and he landed a scintillating left hook to the jaw which clearly hurt Byram.

The bell rang and it was another unanimous decision for the Hamer boxer.