Earlier in the evening, however, it seemed as if the hosts would come away with anything but victory, having lost to some very good boxers and trailing by four bouts to two, before Leonis sent in Ben Murray, Les Bulpin, Danny Maka and Sean Durkin to turn things around.In the first bout Leonis’ Elliott Kennedy took on Andy Gatenby from Stacey in Wales in a flyweight contest which was always close.
However, Elliott’s left hook and right cross must have caught the attention of two judges, as he was given the majority decision.Following that, Pisces’ Jamie Le Page started strongly in his all-southpaw bout against Paul Searle and got in some hard blows, but he experienced problems with his headguard, which twice came off.
In the last round he was caught with blows to the head on three occasions which led to three standing eight counts.
After the third the referee had no choice but to end the contest.So to bout three, which involved two well-matched boxers in the form of Leonis’ tall Joe Rogerson and southpaw Alex Herbert from Cwmbran.
In a bout of contrasting styles, the southpaw used right jabs and long lefts to the body, while Rogerson countered with rights to the head and a good left hook.The judges must have marked it tight, for Herbert won by a majority decision.
A rematch between the two is a distinct possibility.Bout four saw a much-improved Ollie Power punching in hard rights to the head and body in his bout against fellow lightweight Steve Thomas of Cwmbran.
Power was also able to get in more than one useful uppercut, and after both men had traded punches it was Power who scored with the better shots to head and body and he deservedly – and delightedly – was given the decision.Light-welterweight James Manners, from Pisces, was into immediate action in his bout against Cwmbran’s Steve Davies.
The two men traded blows from the start, but the referee had to stop the fight twice to inspect Manners’ bleeding nose.
Even a strong fightback in the third round wasn’t enough for the home-grown boxer, who lost on a close majority decision.Bout six saw another close contest between Leonis welterweight Sean Irving and Joe Jones from Cwmbran.
Irving used a good left jab against the Welshman, a compact boxer who led with some fast left-right combinations.
Then the Jerseyman found his range with the left lead.
In the final round Irving went all out to impress the judges, but despite the strong finish the judges awarded the bout to Jones by a majority decision.So Leonis were 4-2 down, before lightweight Ben Murray entered the ring to begin the fightback against Cwmbran’s strong, stocky Dean Hard.
Hardy wanted to work in close as he attempted to land some short left hooks, but he was given a lesson in boxing skill as the Jersey teenager scored with left jabs and right crosses, much to the audience’s delight.
Although the Welshman never gave up, Murray was in superb form and took the decision from all three judges.Bantamweight Les Bulpin was next in the ring against Leon Roberts from Cwmbran.
In a fiery exchange both boxers swapped punches, leading to a late flurry in the Welsh corner at the end of the first round.
In round two the Leonis boxer changed style as he scored with a long, jabbing right cross in contrast to Roberts’ reply with fast left-right counters.
Both boxers then upped the tempo in the final round, but it was the Jerseyman who was scoring more effectively and he deserved to win the majority decision.At four bouts all, next in the ring for Leonis was welterweight Danny Maka, who was matched against Grant de St Croix from Cwmbran.
The latter showed his skill with some good, fast straight left and right combinations, but as the Welsh boxer then tried to outjab Maka, the Leonis boxer replied with good shots to the head and body, followed in the second round by a hard left hook that shook the Welshman.Keith Brooking, the English referee, had no alternative but to give the visitor a standing eight count as the Welsh corner threw in the towel.So to the last bout of the night, between Leonis’ lightweight Sean Durkin and Jamie Moss from Cwmbran.
Durkin’s speed of thought and movement meant that as he moved in with fast left and rights, they were nearly always on target against a Welshman who was soon fighting off his back foot, trying to play catch-up against a very impressive Jersey boxer.With hard left and rights backed up by some solid hooks, Durkin took the decision from all three judges.So Leonis yet again turned possible defeat into a commanding 6-4 win to get the boxing season off to an enviable start for organiser Dave Thompson.During the night it was announced that local referee Brian Follain has decided to retire.
He will be sadly missed, with so many years’ experience.The next Leonis tournament will be on Saturday 27 March, again at the Royal Hotel, where they take on a Select Squad from Birmingham.
