Pictures and blow-by-blow account of a cracking night’s boxing at Horsham’s Drill Hall

The young junior boxers got the night off to a cracking start with skills bouts which are for the boxers to showcase their skills, in preparation for scoring contests.

William Carthy was up first for Horsham Boxing Club in a skills bout with Zion Mcdonald-Honey from Hailsham Boxing Club. Carthy began using his jab to try to find his range, whilst Mcdonald-Honey was gliding around the ring to pick his punches. The second and third rounds saw more action as Carthy began using both hands to fire combinations, with the Hailsham boxer looking to counter and at the final bell, both boys had their hands raised.

John Scarborough was up next, also in a skills bout, facing Sonny Haywood of Club13. Johnny began the first round on his toes, moving light on his feet looking to work on the front foot and continued using his boxing skills to press forward in the second round, as his opponent tried to work on his counter punches on his back foot. In the final round both lads gave it their all and were applauded as they both had their hands raised.

The final skills bout of the evening was Horsham’s Frazer Hodgson who was up against Johnny Keet from Bordon ABC. At the first bell, Frazer was looking to impress as he started the round using his nice footwork to get in range and fire combinations as Keet tried to counter. The remainder of the bout continued with Hodgson varying his combinations to the head and body, showcasing what he has been working on in the gym and using his light footwork to glide around the ring as Keet was looking for his own combinations. After three rounds, both boxers had their hands raised at the end.

John-Jack Ockendon was the first to represent Horsham Boxing Club in a scoring contest, having his first scoring bout at just 10 years old. John-Jack faced Maxwell Kingshott from Phoenix Eastbourne. In the first round, Ockendon was up on his toes, boxing well on the back foot as he looked to make his opponent miss and time his punches, having success as Kingshott came forward. John-Jack continued using his quick movement to move off on the angle in the second and third round and looked to counter Kingshott as the Phoenix boxer had his own success working on the front foot. In what was a great bout, Kingshott was awarded the victory.

Up next was John Mongan for Horsham Boxing Club who was having a rematch with Crawley’s Guy Watson. John started the first round at a high pace, pressing forward and landing solid combinations as he looked to be the more aggressive. In the second round, Watson started on the front foot and caught John in his flurry of attack, to which the referee jumped in and gave Mongan a standing-8 count but as he was unhurt, the round continued and Mongan fired back with his own attack, starting to shape up to be a good bout with both boxers having their successes. Just as Mongan and Watson were both firing in a punch for punch attack, the referee jumped in to give Mongan a second standing-8 count as he waved off the contest, declaring Watson the winner.

Owen Mitchell was the next to box for Horsham Boxing Club, facing Lincoln Phelps from Bordon ABC. Owen used his boxing in the first and second round, trying to box light on his feet to work his way in and out, whilst Phelps tried to work in range. In the final round, Phelps was pressing forward, forcing Mitchell to match the pace. After three evenly-contested, close rounds, Phelps had his hand raised.

Next to box was Levi Mitchell, up against Kye Price-Nayee from Fight Hub Felbridge. Levi started the first round on the front foot, looking to land solid 1-2 combinations, with Price-Nayee also firing straight shots. The second and third rounds continued to be all-action, as both lads began to vary the combinations and in the last seconds, Price-Nayee landed a solid punch to which the referee jumped in to give Mitchell a standing-8 count. Just as the round continued, the final bell went and in a close contest, Price-Nayee was declared the winner.

Tony Giles was the next boxer to represent Horsham Boxing Club as he faced Archie Griffin of Club13. Coming off another win last weekend, Giles was looking to continue his win streak as he started the first round at his usual high pace on his front foot, being the more aggressive. Giles landed a solid combination of punches, forcing the referee to give Griffin a standing-8 count. The second round continued and Tony was eager to get the win, landing strong punches in a flurry and the referee gave Griffin another 8 count. As the round continued, Tony was straight back to work, giving Griffin another 8 count but the referee let the bout continue. Before the round could end, Tony forced another 8 count and the referee was forced to stop the contest, declaring Tony the winner.

Up next was Jude Thompson facing Charlie Keet from Bordon ABC who started on the front foot, forcing Jude to work on his back foot as he tried to land his rear hand. In the second and third round, Thompson began to pick his punches better and had more success but after three rounds, Keet was awarded the victory.

Club captain, Noah Jolly, was next to box for Horsham, up against Frazer Laming from Panthers. In the first round, both lads were using their fast feet and head movement to pick their punches and towards the end of the first round, Jolly countered with a solid rear hand, hook combination on his Southpaw opponent, forcing the referee to give Laming a standing-8 count and before bell to end the round, Noah followed up with another combination, giving Laming another 8 count. The second round continued to be all action as Laming pressured Noah, but Jolly continued to block and counter. In the final round, Laming once again tried to press forward but was caught walking into Jolly’s attack and the referee gave Laming a standing-8 count as his legs looked unsteady. As the round continued, both lads were firing and in a good exchange of attack, the referee gave Laming another 8 count and ended the contest, declaring Noah Jolly the winner in what was awarded fight of the night.

Joseph Kawuma was up next, facing Osiraerhire Oyeye from Riverside Erith. Kawuma started the first round at a very high pace, firing fast combinations on the front foot, pressuring Oyeye who tried to use his boxing skills. In the second and third rounds, Kawuma continued the high pace as Oyeye was using his footwork to move out of range and box Kawuma. After three high action rounds, Kawuma was awarded the victory by split decision.

The final bout of the night was Horsham’s Phelan Jeffery against Eastbourne’s Fin Delea. As the bell sounded, both boxers were looking to land heavy punches as Phelan started to pick his punches and find his range. The second and third rounds continued with Phelan pressing forward looking the more aggressive of the two as they both tried to land the more eye-catching combinations. After three great rounds of boxing, Delea was declared the winner on the night.

Horsham Boxing Club would like to thank everyone who supported their well-attended night of boxing and a special thank you to the show sponsors Masters of Roofing, Zippycar and Watson Bros Building Ltd. Well done to every boxer who stepped in the ring and gave it their all and thank you to all of the clubs that attended.

The club were also very appreciative to have the new British and Commonwealth champion, Zak Chelli, attend another show with his new belts and hand out trophies to the young juniors.