Chichester Boys' Club boxers pack a punch to start season with victories

Three young boxers were in the Southern Counties Championships at Twickenham. Two of the boxers are now champions and go on to box in the England Boxing Regional round.

Cain Marsh had a busy weekend. He boxed the semi-final against an awkward opponent, Danny Ball from Kent Gloves BC. Ball was taller with a longer reach and was a very good counter puncher. It took Marsh until round two to start imposing his power and aggression on Ball, winning by a split decision.

In Sunday’s final Marsh faced Salin Mohammed from Guildford BC, a boxer with twice his experience. Mohammed just nicked the first round.

Jack Partridge, Marsh’s corner man, told him he had to lift his work rate and dominate the centre of the ring. With his relentless pressure and accurate shots Marsh won the second round – and, thanks to his fitness and work rate, the third.

Sam McKeowen fought Callum King from Moulsecoomb BC. From the start, King found it hard to cope with McKeowen’s unorthodox style and his technical skill level.

McKeowen imposed himself from the start of round one with his combination punches and work-rate. He proved too fit and powerful for King.

Chi’s Darren Rowles was up against Alfie Blackman from St Mary’s BC and got a good start in round one. His work rate was good and he put pressure on Blackman. This changed in round two where Rowles seemed to run out of juice.

Blackman was taller than Rowles and made full use of this in the second round. It was all down to round three but Blackman was too strong for Rowles and went through.

Meanwhile four other boxers from the Chichester Boys’ Club were taking part in a show organised by Faz Chitima at Ockley BC in Bognor. There were 13 bouts and more than 100 supporters.

First up for the Boys’ Club was young Dave Smith, up against Hayden Young from Scrappers BC, Swindon.

The first round went to Smith and his corner man, Jarred Partridge, urged him to throw straighter punches and to try to control the centre of the ring. Young put together some good shots in the second round which he won.

Smith proved the fitter boxer and took the bout by a split decision.

John Henry Keets of the Boys’ Club was facing Charlie Clark from Scrappers BC.

Clark took the first round with clever footwork and a good work-rate but the second round had Keets putting on a strong aggressive performance.

The third round had Keets dominating his opponent with some excellent combination punches to win the contest.

Ryan Smith boxed Sahib Mohammed from Guildford BC, a southpaw and good counter-puncher. Smith found it hard to cope with his opponent’s style in the first round which Mohammed won.

Partridge, in the corner, told Smith to throw more right hooks, which he did, to great effect in the second.

The third round was an excellent display by both boxers and most thought Smith had won but the decision went to Mohammed.

Top of the bill was an elite level bout between Tom Johnson of the Boys’ Club and Balraj Kahara from the Westside BC, Hounslow, a contest between two experienced boxers who do not like losing.

In the first round both boxers tried to impose themselves but Kahara just nicked it.

Johnson was told to increase his work-rate and to double up on his punches. Johnson’s performance improved in the second round with his fitness levels coming into play. He was warming to his task and was pulled up by the referee for showboating.

In round three Johnson used more power and aggression to overwhelm his opponent, coming out a comfortable winner.

Ashley Whiting, one of the senior coaches at the Boys’ Club, said the coaching team were satisfied with the performance of the boxers over the weekend but there was still room for improvement.

The club meet on Monday, Thursday and Friday evenings at their gym in Little London. If you are interested in boxing or supporting the club, please pop in.