St Mary's Amateur boxing club travelled to Camberley in Surrey on Saturday with three of there boxers to compete on a show hosted by Sporting Ring ABC.
First up for the Chatham club was Dominic Nugent vs Eddy Connelly Sporting Ring.
In only his third bout for the club, previously undefeated Dominic started full of confidence, and boxed to instruction from his coaches.
Dominic started the first round well,using both good defences and counter punches against the home boxer. The second round saw the home boxer Connelly have more success,however Dominic remained disciplined and both boys gave a classy account of the skill of amateur boxing, scoring with clean jabs and combinations.
The third round was classic as both boys had been instructed from there corners to go out and give it there all.
At the final bell it was the home boxer, E Connelly who was awarded the judges decision by the closest of margins.
Although he never received the decision, he impressed both his coaches and the supporting crowd and will hopefully get the chance to test his skills against his opponent in the future.
Next up in his first bout for the club was Harry " THE KING" Sing.
The boxer from St Mary's was pitted against Jimmy Connors of Wilenhall ABC. Both boys started strong, with success from each corner in an evenly matched bout. Singh boxed well behind a stiff jab, catching his shorter opponent cleanly Singh's defences and boxing made him a clear winner of the first round.
Connors started the second round faster,throwing overhand bombs trying to catch the taller Singh, who was to game and stood and traded with his opponent, giving the advantage to the boxer from Wilenhall.
With the St Mary's corner sensing it was very close, Singh was sent out knowing he needed a big last round to impress the judges. The contest was fought at a frantic pace with both boxers giving 110%.
At the final bell, a very tight decision went to Connors.Harry was applauded by the crowd for a quality display of sportsmanship,and left the ring smiling, still "KING".
Lee Mills also repersenting the club. At 16, Mills is a latecomer to the sport and was taking part in just his 12thbout. Due to Mills good record of winning all but 2 of those, it means he is very difficult to match with boxers of the same experience, so he often has to give experience if he wants to build up his own record. Alex Millar (City of Portsmouth) went into the bout with a record of nearly 20 wins from 25 bouts, which meant it was always going to be tough. In the first round, Millar looked to bully Mills and was rushing in and throwing combinations in an effort to outhustle the Gillingham based teenager. Mills had to take a good left hook in one of the opening exchanges and was getting caught too often for comfort. In between rounds, Mills was told by his coaches that he needed to side step his opponent and counter and he started to catch Millar on the way in with sharp combinations. Going into the final round, Mills was again reminded to be like a ‘matador’ and use lateral movement before countering, and Lee was now having more and more success. Going into the final minute, Millar was now tiring and was warned by the referee for holding and after the final bell, the judges awarded Mills with the points victory. This takes his record to 10 wins from 12 bouts and he showed his coaches he was able to follow a game plan when instructed, which makes him a good prospect moving forward.
19 year old Dan Woledge is going for national glory this Saturday (7th), when he boxes in the NABC finals in Portsmouth. Woledge is facing Zach Parker (Swadlincote, Midlands), who won the jnr ABA title in the weight class above Dan two years ago. Parker is also an England international, so will provide a stiff test for the St Mary’s boxer. However, Woledge has been training hard and is looking to win his 2nd national title.
