St Marys home Show Mach 2019

The historic backdrop of the Royal School of Military Engineering Gymnasium at Brompton Barracks provided the setting for St Marys ABC’s second show of the season. In a Chatham vs Maidstone derby match, Irfan Janjua of St Mary’s took on Jack Salisbury of Westree ABC. Spurred on by passionate support, the boxers exchanged ferociously at close quarters for two frantic rounds. With no clear advantage established, the third and final round would prove decisive. Salisbury established distance for the first time in the fight and picked off the on rushing Janjua with crisp, eye-catching straight punches. To the delight of his vocal supporters, Salisbury won a hard-earned unanimous decision victory.

In his first senior bout, home boxer Robert Caswell entertained Scott Miller of Chadwell St Mary ABC. Adjusting to life without a head guard with ease, Caswell put on a masterful display of counter punching, head movement and swiftness of foot. Miller did not give up and enjoyed patches of success as the fight progressed, but Caswell maintained his rhythm and boxed to a clear unanimous decision win, scooping the coveted “boxer of the night” award in the process.

The penultimate bout of the evening saw power punching Dan Lupton of St Mary’s face off against Loz Fiorentino of Newark ABC in a light heavyweight contest. Fiorentino got off to a blistering start landing telling straight rights over the top of Lupton’s jab bloodying the home fighter’s nose and forcing a standing 8 count in the first round. Lupton needed the sanctuary of the corner at the end of the first and came out for the second with a renewed sense of purpose. Targeting the body of his taller opponent, Lupton unleashed a vicious flurry of hooks that turned the bout on its head. With Fiorentino retreating to recover, Lupton pressed the issue with head shots, forcing a returned standing count. With his opponent visibly wilting, Lupton closed in on an early finish with a slew of unanswered shots to head and body forcing the referee to call a halt to the contest midway through round 2. A well-deserved victory came with the additional accolade of “bout of the night”.

In other action, slick southpaw Tyrone Cross mimicked the style of the great Sugar Ray Leonard to beat Sam Hardy of Newark. There were also wins for Michael Shoyemi, Luke Carter, Mason Mateer, Sam Luker and Jesse Harris. Heavyweight Josh Antonio capped off a successful evening for the home club with a stoppage win over Oliver Lopez of Danson ABC.