Fight night at Waterside Centre as Thames Valley host NABGC Championships

Thames Valley Amateur Boxing Club hosted the first round of the NABGC Championships at Newbury’s Waterside Centre on Sunday.

Jake Tillen, boxing in the under-54 kg class C, took on Pinewood’s Zayn Ahmed, who has represented England.

Testing himself against a more experienced fighter of international calibre over three three minute rounds, Tillen made a bright start and was the busier of the two boxers in the opening round.

Ahmed was able to show his class for the remainder of the fight, finding his rhythm and throwing the more accurate shots.

The bout was awarded to the Pinewood man via a unanimous decision, although Tillen can take pride from his performance against an international opponent.

The Pembroke twins were both in action in skills bouts.

Jamie, taking on Abingdon’s Matthew Southey, demonstrated sound technique and an impressive willingness to learn in his first skills bout.

Jack, up against another Abingdon youngster in Zak Cooke, showed good aggression and a similar willingness to listen to his coaches.

Bailey Rackham was having his first bout for the club against The Barn’s Tom Hunt.

Rackham made a slow start as he struggled to get to grips with his opponent’s height advantage.

Rackham grew into the fight as the second round progressed, landing some clean shots on his opponent, although Hunt was continuing to make good use of his longer reach.

The third round was generally untidy, with Rackham catching Hunt and drawing blood from his opponents nose but failing to make contact with some wild shots.

After a frenetic final round, Hunt was awarded the bout by a split decision.

Jimmy Dean Smith was involved in a scrappy and tight contest against Feltham’s Oliver Breden.

The Thames Valley man started well and used his lead hand to good effect but the bout soon became untidy as both boxers struggled to remain composed.

The second and third rounds continued in a similarly robust and untidy manner as Dean Smith proved unable to make use of his hand speed and land straight punches, which could have seen him edge the bout.

As it was, the Feltham boxer was declared the winner by a unanimous decision.

Eddie Frankham faced off with Joe Trickett of Scrappers Swindon, with both fighters in the ring for their first competitive bout.

Frankham made an aggressive start but his opponent made use of his more powerful build to ensure it was an even opening round.

Frankham continued with some good scoring shots in the second round but the Swindon man again responded well to the challenge.

There was blood from the nose of both boxers in the third round but, after being checked over by the doctor, the pair were allowed to conclude an enthralling fight.

Trickett was awarded the victory via a unanimous decision although Frankham drew plaudits for his battling display.

On Friday evening, former two-weight world champion Nigel Benn paid club members a visit when he stopped in at the Waterside Centre to pose for photos and sign gloves and t-shirts.

Thames Valley are hosting their annual dinner show at Newbury Racecourse on Friday, November 17.