Hull Box Cup medals for Hamer ABC

Date published: 07 July 2022

Hamer Amateur Boxing Club gained one gold, one silver and two bronze when they travelled to the Allam Sports Centre at Hull University on Friday 1 July to compete in a three-day boxing event at the prestigious Hull Box Cup.

The first boxer to enter the ring for Hamer that weekend was 16-year-old Kieren McMenamy, who was matched in a three, three-minute round bout against Haaris Brown of Rourkeys Gym, Bradford.

The bell rang for the first round and Kieren came out using his long range left jab to constantly keep his opponent at bay and when Brown did step into range he was caught with a straight right hand to the chin.

The second round was much the same as the first when the Hamer boxer used the ring with swift footwork whilst he snapped out his jab and his right hand to keep Brown occupied when the Bradford boxer came in close.

The bell rang for the third round, just as the referee held up his arms to momentarily stop the bout so that he could have a word with the timekeeper who had been timing the bout on two-minute rounds instead of the stipulated three.

After a short conversation between the referee and the timekeeper the bout continued, but somehow the delay knocked Kieren’s concentration and his momentum, which allowed Brown back into the fight when he constantly stepped into range to land telling blows to the head of the Hamer boxer to take the round.

Believing that Kieren had done enough to take the first two rounds, the Hamer coaches still thought that he would gain victory, but when the Yorkshire lad had his arm was raised in victory, it brought nothing but shock and frustration regarding the controversial verdict, along with the contentious time keeping.

Around two hours later, 21-year-old Monir 'Real Money' Miah stepped into ring A to meet Jack Martin of Aspire ABC, Sheffield and when the bell rang for the first round the Hamer boxer landed swift punches to the head of his on-coming opponent, before using quick footwork to move out of range.

Although this continued throughout the round, which the Hamer coach Steven Connellan thought Monir had won. He told his boxer to move onto his front foot more in the second round and begin to take the action to Martin much more so that he could land the more solid punches.

When the bell rang for the second round, Monir immediately followed his coach’s instructions and he began to land much heavier punches when his opponent stepped towards him, which led to Martin receiving a standing eight count midway through the round.

By round three Monir had found his momentum as he continued to answer his opponent with swift counter-punches when Martin moved in close.

His opponent was caught again with a solid right hand to the chin which led the referee to administer another standing eight count. After the count, the bout continued and moments later Monir landed another right hand which staggered the crowd more than his opponent, when the punch prompted the referee to step in and end the contest by stoppage in favour of the Hamer boxer.

 

 

Hamer head coach Steven Connellan had no time to celebrate Monir’s victory because he had to swiftly move on to ring C to work the corner of another Hamer boxer called Aeron 'The Viking' Maddocks who was matched against the local boxer Brett Dickens of Stevie Smith Boxing Club in Hull.

When the bell rang for the first round and Aeron came out to use his speed of punch and fast combinations to take the fight to his opponent as he moved swiftly around the ring.

As soon as the bell rang for round two Aeron quickly stepped towards his opponent to land a solid one-two punch combination to the chin before he stepped out of range. Aeron upped the pressure in this round, and he began to force Dickens onto the ropes where he landed more powerful punches to both the body and head, and as the round progressed Dickens began to show signs of fatigue.

 So 'The Viking' continued to up the pace of the action in order to show the judges who was in total control of the bout. In round three Dickens continued to duck his head low and throw swinging hooks from both hands that constantly missed as Aeron moved towards him with swift and accurate punches.

As the round moved into the later stages, Dickens continued to throw hopeful swinging blows with a hope that one would land to end the contest, but Aeron used his fitness and speed of punch to land swift counter-punches when his opponent missed, before moving out of range with neat footwork, which was enough to take the bout and allow him progress into the next round.

 

 

On Saturday 2 July, four boxers from Hamer were competing in the Hull Box Cup semi-finals and the first boxer to step into the ring that day for Hamer was 15-year-old Charlie Braddock, who was matched against his much taller opponent Johnny Powell of St Marys ABC in Kent, South East England.

Throughout the bout, Powell used his longer range to keep Charlie at bay and when the Hamer boxer stepped in close, he was caught with a left glove to the face by his more experienced southpaw opponent. This continued in the second round, but in the third and last round, Charlie began to get in close to his now tired opponent to land some telling blows, but it wasn’t enough to take the verdict, which was awarded to the eventual gold medal winner, Johnny Powell.

As soon as the bout between Braddock and Powell had finished, Hamer’s head coach Steven Connellan had to quickly make his way over to ring C to work the corner of 15-year-old Austin Heneghan who was matched against Dylan Gray of District Youth ABC in Washington, Tyne and Wear.

From the first bell to the last the occasion seemed to have got the better of the Hamer boxer, who struggled to find his range and his momentum, which allowed his opponent to dictate the action throughout the fight to take the verdict and an entry to the final in which he won.

It took around three hours before Monir 'Real Money' Miah stepped back into the ring to contest the semi-final against Huzaifah Ahmed of Hebden Bridge Boxing Club, Yorkshire.

Both boxers stepped out for the first round using their tentative jabs to find their range before the Hamer boxer began to step in with some straight one-two punch combinations to the head, whilst Ahmed waited to land his counter-punch as Monir stepped towards him.

As the round progressed, Monir started to step closer into range so that he could land punches to both the body and head, which constantly forced his opponent into reverse gear. As soon as the bell rang to start the third and last round, Monir landed a terrific right hand to the chin of his opponent.

Ahmed came back with momentum as he landed some single blows to the head. Then Monir began to take control when he unloaded punishing punches of his own to both the body and head.

As the round progressed to the final bell Ahmed began to slow down, which prompted Monir to land more solid hooks to the body which clearly hurt his opponent, before he was awarded the opportunity to contest his skills in the final.

Aeron 'The Viking' Maddocks had to start his semi-final without his head coach Steven Connellan again because he was still in the other ring with Monir 'Real Money' Miah. However, 'The Viking' stepped into ring B confident, in knowing that his dad, who was his other coach, Frank Maddocks, was there to give him solid advice and it showed when he easily took the first round when he confronted his opponent Kane Farghlay from New Era Boxing Club in Northwich. Farghlay continued to show signs of apprehension as he continued to move backwards onto his back foot.

The second round was much the same as the first with the Hamer boxer continuously pushing forward to force his opponent onto the ring ropes so that he could land hurtful punches to both the body and head. Then just as the bell rang to start the third and last round, the referee stepped in to lead Farghlay over to the doctor when he noticed a cut over the boxer’s left eye.

After taking a look at the cut, the doctor told the referee that Farghlay could not continue due to the severity of the cut, so the judges voted on the first two rounds, and they all voted in favour of Aeron as the winner.

On the final day of boxing, on Sunday 3 July, Monir 'Real Money' Miah entered ring A to meet a local Yorkshire lad named Blaine Lambert, who was boxing for the Royal Air Force.

When the bell rang for round one, Monir came out very tentative as he used his probing jab to find his range, whilst Lambert stepped forward, looking to land punches of his own.

But when the Hamer boxer did step onto his front foot, Lambert reversed away onto his back foot, but the Hamer boxer didn’t take the initiative and continue to force the action, so it allowed Lambert to grow in confidence and he used the ring to his advantage until the bell rang to end the round.

 

 

In the corner Monir was berated by his coach Steven Connellan, who told him he had lost the first round because of his negative approach. He was told to step onto the front foot and take the fight to his opponent and force him onto the ropes, so that he can land the more telling blows to impress the judges.

The bell rang for the second round and Monir instantly came out to take the action straight to the former National Champion as he continued to land significant punches to the head as he forced Lambert onto his back foot.

Realising that the Hamer boxer was more positive in his work rate, Lambert began to fight back, but as the round progressed Monir began to land the more forceful hooks to both the body and head.

When the round ended Connellan told Monir that he thought Lambert was constantly hurt when he received punches from him. He also believed that the Yorkshire boxer was tiring, so, he told the Hamer boxer to step up the pace of the action once again and force his opponent back onto the ropes so that he could land more effective and meaningful punches to both the head and body to impress the judges.

As soon as the bell rang for the last round and the Rochdale boxer continued to force his opponent around the ring as he landed solid hooks to both the body and head.

With his hands down by his side, Lambert was showing serious signs of tiredness as he scrambled around the ring whilst trying to stay away from the hurtful punches that Monir was continuously delivering to him, and when the bell rang to end the contest, the corner of the Hamer boxer believed he had done more than enough to take the contest, but quite incredibly the bout was awarded to the local lad.

Connellan had no time to feel disappointed, nor express his frustration to the officials because Aeron 'The Viking' Maddocks was boxing at that very moment in Ring C against George Killeen of Collyhurst and Moston Boxing Club, Manchester.

When Connellan rushed to the corner of the ring Maddocks had just started the second round after winning the first with swift combinations and neat footwork. The start of the second round was much the same as the first with Aeron stepping forward to land his combinations before stepping back out of range.

On the odd occasion Killeen landed a solid punch to the head of the on-coming Hamer boxer, but he struggled to gain any momentum when Aeron shrugged it off and returned fire with more combinations to both the body and head.

Connellan told Aeron to start throwing his double jab as he stepped in before unloading his right hand and when the bell rang to start the third and last round.

The Hamer boxer did exactly what was asked of him when he forced his opponent onto the ropes with his double jab, right hand, before unloading hooks to both the body and head, which forced the referee to warn Killeen for ducking his head too low.

Although the Collyhurst and Moston boxer landed some telling blows, they were all single shots, whereas the Hamer boxer continued to land swift combinations to both the body and head throughout the contest to gain the prestigious gold medal of the Hull Box Cup.

Steven Connellan said: “It was a fantastic weekend for all our boxers even though we thought that some of them had won some of their bouts which went against them.

“I would also like to thank our other Hamer boxing coaches Alan Bacon and Frank Maddocks who where totally professional in their work to get our boxers ready, who were also very respectful, well mannered and well behaved."