The UWE boxing club was proud to take part in this years BUCS English Universities Championship hosted by Portsmouth University on 12-14th of December. The event was very well attended and was a great showcase for collegiate boxing with strong teams fielded by many universities.
UWE’s first boxer to take to the ring in the opening bout of the competition was middleweight and club president, Demian Attwell. Although Attwell’s defence was strong, the lead hooks from awkward southpaw Cleal left their mark. After two justly given standing eight counts the referee, following a rather innocuous body shot, called a third and a subsequent stop to the contest. Next up was debutant Luke Hickman against McVay at welterweight. In the first round Hickman landed many straight punches while maintaining a high guard. The second round was rather pedestrian from both boxers with very few punches thrown on either side. As McVay became more desperate in the third round Hickman showed off his combinations and was awarded the win, the club’s first of the season. Later in the day Larry Odoom, made his first featherweight appearance against Dorne. Looking very strong in the first round Odoom moved quickly using his balanced and poised footwork landing several combinations and causing his opponent some real trouble. Unfortunately in the second round the combination of a well placed shot to his chest and Odoom’s fitness caused a standing eight count to be extended to ten giving Dorne the bout by way of technical knockout. Edward Ross was first up on Saturday against Khan, an experienced boxer with thirteen bouts under his belt. Belying his status as a novice, Ross put in a good performance using his fast hands to score with flurries of straight shots. However as the bout continued the far greater experience of Khan began to tell against Ross’ comparative novice status. The referee awarded Khan the win by virtue of a technical knockout. After this, the club’s only open class boxer Liam Horgan was up. After two excellent rounds in which he displayed deft footwork, lateral movement and some excellent counterpunching, Horgan was clearly in the lead. In the third round Daly came back with some good combinations leaving Horgan working hard to secure a well deserved majority decision after the fourth. Horgan seemed well rested and composed on Sunday, stepping into the ring in the final of the open welterweight. Although he boxed well, there were several occasions where Channing managed to land two or three punches to Liam’s one. After receiving a blooded nose in the second round Liam came out strong in the third supplying a number of turns and counters. In the fourth round neither boxer showed their fatigue and hard punches were exchanged right till the bell. Unfortunately having been beaten to the punches in those early rounds left Horgan with only a silver medal; nonetheless this bout provided another display of excellent boxing technique for all the novices who had represented the club. Overall the weekend was a resounding success, getting three boys who had never fought before in the ring, and gaining precious tournament experience. We now have our sights firmly set on the British BUCS finals in March. |
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