Boxers put in battling display at the Thames Valley ABC Junior Show at the Waterside Centre in Newbury
Omar Sheikh put up a battling display in his first ever senior contest.
The Thames Valley ABC boxer took on Lewis Ashburner from Camberley – also making his debut – in the fight of the night at Thames Valley’s Junior Show at the Waterside Centre, Newbury recently.
Sheikh (57kg) started cautiously, allowing his opponent to lead with scoring punches.
The second round wasn’t short of action, which resulted in Sheikh taking a standing eight count, but he fought back throughout the round and caught Ashburner with a solid left from his southpaw stance, forcing his opponent back on to the ropes, but didn’t result in a count before being saved by the bell.
The third and final round saw both boxers mixing their punches at a high tempo.
However, unfortunately for Sheikh the outcome was a harsh unanimous win for Ashburner.
There were a total of 11 contests on the day – two skills bouts and nine bouts.
The junior championship bout was won by Callum Walsh from High Wycombe.
He has now progressed to the final taking place on Saturday in Oxford against Thames Valley ABC’s Ashton Duncan, who starts his campaign in the junior championships.
The first skills bout was 12-year-old Austin Duncan from Thames Valley take on Danny Lee from Stevenage ABC.
Both competed well in their first contest and although they started nervously, both eventually found some composure to finish strongly.
The second skills bout was TV 15-year-old Tane Newton-Cook against Jamie Cox from Braunstone Golden Gloves.
The local boxer showed good composure and grew into the contest with each round, with the referee congratulating the boys for their efforts.
Romeo Wenman, aged 15, from Thames Valley ABC, fought against Keiran Colville from Didcot ABC.
Wenman started the contest extremely well on the front foot.
However, Colville came back into the fight in the second round, leading to a tense third round.
Wenman used skill in the final round to avoid combinations, but he was unable to land any clean punches himself and Colville won the fight on a split decision.
Both boxers gave their all which resulted in an entertaining bout.
Sixteen-year-old Charlie Willets from Thames Valley fought Amid Ahmed from Jubilee.
Willets started strongly, throwing left and right combinations but his opponent was more accurate on the counter.
Willets had small successes but was unable to get control of the fight, which resulted in a unanimous win for Ahmed.
The show was Thames Valley’s first in three years and was a great success.
The club would like to thank all sponsors – Sean Early of TSH Skip Hire, Jason Sutton of Sutton Roofing, Omar Sheikh, M Cook Plastering, Berinsfield Boxing Club and Berkshire Youth.
The club’s next show will be its annual dinner show on Saturday, May 21, at Newbury Racecourse.
Tickets will be £60 for a three-course black tie dinner show, which is one of the best in the South of England.
Anyone wanting to purchase tickets for tables of 10 can contact Paul Cooke on 07904 030962 for further details .
Thames Valley ABC are always looking for sponsors for their shows so please contact Paul Cooke for details.
