Any sporting events might soon come to an abrupt halt – for spectators anyway – but it was nice to join a large gathering in Sunderland where Lambton Street staged a highly successful night of boxing.
The Point was the stage and while the beer was a tad pricey, it proved a great venue and atmosphere, with slick presentation and superbly hosted by Wearside legend Billy Hardy.
Most importantly, the boxing was of the highest calibre (as was the sportsmanship) with a full card, a quarter of which were female bouts.
One of the stars of the show was Lambton Street’s Jade Childs who lifted the Tyne, Tees & Wear U54 Kilo Development belt with a unanimous points win over Lauren Weaver.
Top marks to both who boxed themselves to a point of exhaustion and to the Benwell visitor who gave a spirited last round, but by that stage Childs was well ahead, making her jab count in the opener and then landing with a high percentage of head shots in the second when Lauren took a standing eight count from referee Paul Allen.
Another female contest closed the event when Lambton Street’s Jordan Barker outpointed Scotland’s Shannon Lawson.
There wasn’t a massive amount between the two rivals but Barker turned it on in the last, belting the Bellahoustan boxer back into the ropes before connecting with some heavy rights.
That followed one of the scraps of the night as Lambton’s Ben Mackie beat Brandon’s Jordan Fletcher by a split decision.
Round three was like watching Rocky – there was no regard paid to defence, it was an all-out war. Credit to both men.
There was no shortage of leather in the fascinating three rounds served up by Lambton’s Thom Marley and Connor Doyle, from Gladiator.
The headguards were off for this one, with the Huddersfield boxer sharp to the head of Marley who scored strongly with hooks to the body. It was intriguing to see which way the judges went with this one, Marley taking it by a unanimous decision (pictured above).
Luke Dunn appeared somewhat unlucky when he tangled, literally, with another Huddersfield visitor, Adam Morris, the pair having met recently with the Yorkshire boxer getting the nod.
Here the Lambton southpaw tried to get his quick hands going in the first, only to be continually frustrated by his opponent and, ironically, when there was a point deduction in the second it went against Dunn.
Luke put his speed and movement to good use in the last and both boxers had their hands primed ready to celebrate the decision, but it went the way of Morris via a split.
On the subject of southpaws, there were no such issues for Amber Dennis, who enjoyed a unanimous verdict over another Yorkshire opponent, Sheffield’s Shereen Hutton.
Dennis put together countless combinations in a very impressive display.
Street’s Naven Longstaff and Harrison Smith were involved in a real close quarter confrontation in the last round, but before then, Smith landed the pick of the shots with Naven nodding as Mr Hardy announced a unanimous points win for the Wearmouth boxer.
There was the same verdict for another away win when Charlie Mullen, despite coming forward throughout was beaten by Love Boxing ABC’s Brandon Ross.
And it was desperately close when Empire’s Ryan Dixon took a split decision against Lambton’s Leon Hamilton in a very watchable contest with both scoring well.
The show opener was lively, very lively, with the fans lapping it up as Oliver Potts was on top against Oscar Wilson for a unanimous verdict.
His Lambton team-mate, Finley Purvis, produced a great final round in bout two but it was not enough as Brandon’s Euan Oakes won on all three judges’ cards.
Bobby Orwin was relentless in his unanimous victory over Wearmouth’s Mark Lambert, who had his moments, but took a number of corking lefts from the Street star.
There was another cracking Lambton-Wearmouth showdown when Kiel Callaghan slugged it out with Charlie Myers. This reporter had it one round each going into the last with Myers finding his best form when it mattered to give Wearmouth a split decision.
The first female contest of the show saw Lambton Street’s Laura Wilson and Angelica Finch saw the boxers fight right through to Frank McGough’s final bell, the Boston southpaw taking it via a split result.
Last, but by no means least, punch-lines finishes with an excellent victory for Joe Glenwright who let both hands go to defeat Grainger Park’s Connor Naples from all three officials. Well done to everyone for a good night’s entertainment.
Words: Roy Kelly
