It was an eventful evening that saw Leonis light-middleweight Decio Ferreira disqualified for the actions of his coach Dave Thompson, and his light-middleweight club-mate Danny Maka lose on a controversial points decision.
Thompson leapt up to the ropes and protested loudly to the referee when he thought Ferreira’s opponent, Owen Cleary, was persistently fouling his man – and ref Michael Sullivan promptly called a halt and awarded Cleary the verdict.
Cleary had already been given two official warnings but Thompson reckoned he was continuing to use his elbow.
And towards the end of the second round it became too much for the livid Thompson to bear.
Later he was remorseful.
Said Thompson: ‘Decio started fast and was landing good left and right shots.
But Cleary was using his shoulder and elbow and, even though he was twice warned by the referee, he continued to do it.
‘By the end of the second round I’d had enough.
‘But I apologised wholeheartedly to the referee and to Decio, because discipline and control are the mainstay of the sport and my behaviour was wrong.’ Later the crowd groaned in disbelief when the referee failed to raise Danny Maka’s arm at the end of his bout, and instead plumped for Cwmbran ABC fighter Jamie Moss.
‘I felt Danny had done enough to win,’ said Thompson.
Maka started behind a left jab and straight right and took control in the first, while Moss was happy to hold in close.
At the start of the second Maka fired off a salvo of two-fisted left and rights to the body and the Welshman was given a public warning for holding.
‘It looked like a straightforward win for Danny and I think even his opponent was surprised to get the majority decision,’ added Thompson.
There was double reason for Leonis fighters Shaun Irving and Ruben Legge to rejoice as the pair were celebrating their birthdays, as well as victory, on the night.
Welterweight Legge beat his southpaw opponent Alex Herbert of Cwmbran on a unanimous points decision.
Counter-punching, and with fast lefts and rights, Legge controlled the fight from the bell, winning all three rounds.
Irving was boxing Aaron Lowery and landed an eye-catching left jab and a good right in the first, followed up by a two-fisted attack that drove his opponent round the ring in the second.
His long left jab kept Lowery at bay in the third and he took the bout on a points decision.
Leonis middleweight Craig Le Boutillier used his quick hands to score with left and right jabs as his switch-hitting tactics outwitted opponent Billy Alexandra of Crinda ABC.
Le Boutillier stalked for his openings, crossing right hands to the head and body to knock the feisty Welshman off his stride and pound his way to a clear points victory.
Leonis teenager, bantamweight Elliott Kennedy, was in explosive form from the bell, landing sharp left hooks and right crosses on the taller Eddie Frazier of Eastleigh ABC, and eventually winning the bout on points.
Welterweight Ollie Power lost on a majority points decision to Heart of the Valleys boxer Dean Harty while light middleweight southpaw Paul Young was stopped in the third round by Jeff Evans of Pontypool ABC.
Another Leonis man, welterweight Andy Heaton, lost in the first to Heart of the Valleys fighter Reece Meredith.
Leonis debutant Boyd Munro stopped Pisces’ Jamie Le Page at the end of the second round in the only inter-Island club bout of the evening.
There were also three exhibition fights that paired Joe Rogerson and Les Bulpin (both Leonis), Tommy Noel (Leonis) and national boys club finalist Jamie Innes (Cwmbran) and Dougie Littlechild (Leonis) and Chris Williams (Head of the Valleys) on a night that was great value for the £18 admission charge.b
