Saints in early season action in National junior novice championships

St Marys Boxing club in Chatham had two boxers scheduled to box in the National junior novice championships semi-final in Eastbourne last Sunday (Sept 27th). 14 year old Greenacre schoolboy Karol Ituama was first up against Johnny Buckland (Holland Park ABC, Basildon), in the class A under 75kgs category. In his first bout of the new season, Karol took a while to settle in the first round and took some counter punches, but shaded the round. Having shook off the ring rust, southpaw Ituama began landing repeated clean punches through the shorter Bucklands guard and knocked him off balance several times forcing the referee to issue Buckland with a standing 8 count, so he could recover. The Essex champion showed bravery to get the end of the round, but it was more of the same in the final round and Ituama was awarded a clear unanimous decision by the judges. Fresh off a good win in the regional finals two weeks before, Kings Hill based 16 year old Johnny Payne was ready for his semi-final in the Class B under 60kgs category; only to be left frustrated when his opponent pulled out the day before. However, both St Marys boxers progress to National finals in Rotherham on October 10th. It is a great start to the season for the Chatham based club, with both their entries to these championships making the final and both will be looking to bring the titles back home against the top counterparts from the North of England.