Manx Amateur Boxing Club’s Sam Monaghan made a commanding start to the Northwest Regional Development Championships at the weekend, stopping Manchester’s Henry Tomkinson with a second-round technical knockout.

Competing in the senior 75kg category, Monaghan started fast, using sharp footwork and clean shot selection to keep the tough Beartown Boxing Club fighter on the back foot.

The opening round saw both men exchange heavy punches, but it was the Manx boxer’s accuracy that began to tell.

In the second round, Monaghan increased the tempo behind cleaner, more accurate punching, landing a decisive combination that forced the referee to step in and halt the contest.

The result moves Monaghan into the Northwest Regional quarter-finals, marking an important step for both the boxer.

He will now join three more Manx ABC members in the next round: Josh Duggan, Finley Sweet, and last year’s female national semi-finalist Alisha Craine.