Boxing: Hamer Boxing Club fight reports

On Sunday 16 October, 14-year-old “Charming” Alfie McKay progressed into the England Boxing National Championship semi-finals when he travelled to Bridlington Sports Centre in Yorkshire to meet Adyan Musa Ashraf of Saifs Boxing Club in Rotherham.

Ashraf entered the ring in the red corner with a record of seven wins and only one defeat, so Alfie and his team knew that they had a lot to do to gain success. His coach Steven Connellan told the Hamer boxer that his opponent was a southpaw, which meant that he was left-handed, so he would be leading with his right-hand. Connellan told Alfie to step back and put his weight onto his back foot to unload right hands to the chin of his opponent when the Rotherham boxer came towards him. He also told Alfie to step in with a double jab, followed by a right hand to the chin, if the Rotherham boxer was waiting for him to approach him.

The bell rang for the first round and the Yorkshire champion came out of his corner intent on stopping his opponent. He unloaded a solid right hand to the face of his Hamer challenger, before going to the body with more solid punches, then coming back up with a right hook to the chin. Although the momentum of action ignited Ashraf’s supporters, the force of his punches didn’t faze Alfie one bit. It wasn’t long before he began to find his range with his longer reach to unload continuous one-two combinations to the head of his opponent, who occasionally caught Alfie on the chin with an overhand left hand to the face. This continued throughout the round as Alfie’s momentum and swiftness of punches slowly began to show the judges what he was capable of.

Before the start of the second round, Hamer coach Steven Connellan told Alfie to take the fight to his opponent much more, because he believed that Ashraf was a front foot fighter who wouldn’t know what to do if he was forced onto his back foot.

When the bell rang for the second round and Alfie instantly followed his coach’s instructions when he landed three solid right-hands to the head. From there on the bout slowly began to change course as Alfie began to force his opponent onto his back foot with continuous one-two combinations to the head. The Rotherham puncher periodically had his supporters screaming out with excitement when he occasionally landed his solid overhand punch to the chin, but Alfie’s rapid combinations began to slowly take its toll upon his opponent who began to tire. Alfie forced him onto the ropes and Ashraf began to hold his Hamer rival, which brought warnings from the referee.

Before the start of the third and last round, Steven Connellan told Alfie to pick up the pace of the action another notch, because he believed that Ashraf was relying to much on his power, which was slowing him down.

The bell rang for the final round and Alfie stepped on his front foot to meet his opponent in the centre of the ring, who came out throwing meaningful and weighty at his Hamer opponent which momentarily forced Alfie onto his back foot. It wasn’t long before the rhythm and tempo of the action changed once again when the determined young Rochdale boxer began to force his opponent onto the ropes with rapid combinations to the head, which brought more warnings from the referee when Ashraf began to hold his opponent once again.

As soon as the action was allowed to commence, Alfie forced his opponent upon the ropes with a solid right hand to the chin, followed by a relentless bombardment of combinations to the head, which instantly forced the referee to step in and deliver Ashraf a standing eight count, before the bell rang to end the contest in the Hamer boxer's favour.

 

 

Not every successful performance catches the eye of the judges, and it proved so when 14-year-old Austin “Powers” Heneghan travelled to Bradford to take up the challenge of local boxer Iyran Walker of Training Cave Boxing Club, where he landed around six punches to every one landed by Walker in each and every round, yet still lost by poor judging.

Hamer boxing coach Steven Connellan said: "This is happening way, way too often now, up and down the country with judges inability to make the correct decisions, both in professional and amateur boxing. I have been concerned about this now for about two to three years and believe we now have the technical knowhow to use cameras for artificial judging, which will stop all of this going on.

"Although these wrongful decisions upset quite a few boxers, who have walked away from the sport in droves, I am glad that this young boxer of mine doesn’t fear travelling to his opponent’s backyard to take on any challenge."