New Horizon serve up feast of amateur boxing action

New Horizon Boxing Club served up a feast of amateur action at a packed-out Palace Hotel on Saturday night, with nine local fighters in action against a team of boxers from the north west region.

The club welcomed a special guest to the evening, His Excellency Lieutenant Governor Sir John Lorimer and his son Hamish.

The event started with four very competitive skills bouts, non-scoring contests which are a great way for young boxers to show off their skills without the pressure of winning or losing.

First up was Douglas schoolboy Bailey Powlesland against Lancaster's Ellis Whitely. This was both lads' second skills bout and they showed great skills in a well-matched, lively opener to the night.

Another Douglas schoolboy, Josh Arthur-Faragher, was next up in his first bout against Lancashire lad James Coates and demonstrated good footwork, remaining composed throughout this high-paced match-up.

Onchan schoolboy Alfie Hamilton-Dalzell showed maturity beyond his years in his first bout against Barrow’s Riley Porter.

Alfie was the club’s newest member in action on the night, having only joined this year, but he didn’t show it as he boxed to instructions and impressed his coaches.

The last skills bout featured a well-known surname to Manx boxing, with Archie Finch following on from his brother Sonny to represent the club - both lads are following in their dad’s footsteps, Darren 'Dinky' Finch who was an outstanding boxer in his day when representing Vikings ABC.

Archie was up against Manchester’s John Maugham in the most competitive skills bout of the night, with the island fighter showing off his better defensive boxing.

The first scoring contest of the evening was a schoolboy bout with Evander Smith representing New Horizon for the first time. He was in with Wigan’s Jordan McKendrey, the slightly taller Smith dominated the first round with his silky southpaw skills and excellent defensive boxing.

McKendrey came out in the second in determined fashion and put the pressure on Smith and looked to have got himself back into the bout.

The bout was all even going into the final round but Smith quickly gained the upper hand as he dominated with a fast southpaw jab and good use of the uppercut.

The Wigan lad never gave up and showed true grit to close the bout on the front foot, but it wasn’t enough as Smith was awarded a split-decision victory.

Local favourite Alfie Bradford - who has had a busy year with two box cup gold medals to his name - was up next against Rochdale’s Cain Simpson.

The Douglas lad was giving away height and reach advantage that Simpson used to good effect in the first round as he kept the bout long and won the round.

In the second, Alfie went on the front foot and took the fight to his taller opponent, a tactic which turned the clash into a barnstormer, although Simpson showed he was willing to mix it up as well as boxing at distance.

Going into the final round, Alfie needed a big round and he showed what he was made of as he went at it from the bell, but Simpson showed his quality and stayed cool under pressure and was able to see the final bell to win on a unanimous points decision.

The second of the Smith brothers, Wisdom Lee Smith, stepped through the ropes next in a junior contest against Littleborough’s Harrison Wright.

Smith dominated the first round with quick counter-punching and clever defensive boxing. Wright used a high guard well to defend against Smith’s fast hands but didn’t do enough attacking to win the round.

In the second round, Wright came forward more, still with a high guard but now able to put pressure on Smith. Wisdom stayed cool under pressure and boxed clever on the back foot where he used the check right hook to good effect.

In the final round Wright needed a big round and came forward from the bell firing two-handed salvos to the now back-peddling Smith.

As the round progressed both lads showed fatigue as they had put everything into this entertaining bout. The local boxer looked to have held on to a close win, but all three judges scored it to the visiting boxer.

Crowd favourite Lenny Henderson was in action next against Ellis Prior. The visiting boxer wasn’t intimidated by the crowd as he went to work straight from the bell and, in a torrid first round, Henderson did well to hear the bell under constant pressure from his opponent.

In the second round Henderson found his distance and worked well behind his jab as he picked up points in the ring centre, although Prior turned up the pressure once again and finished the round strong.

In the final round Henderson tried to keep it long but Prior was in full flow now and never let up with good front-foot pressure fighting. Henderson again did well to get through this tough round but all three judges were in agreement in giving Prior a unanimous points win.

The best was left to last in an excellent light heavyweight senior contest between the Isle of Man-adopted Ukrainian, Oleksandr Buzylo, and Manchester’s Myles Howden in the top of the bill bout.

The first round was a close tactical affair with both boxers weary of each other’s power, but Buzylo’s jab was the dominant feature and secured him the round.

The second round was a different affair with both boxers looking to land heavy punches, although Buzylo showed the better all-round technique and was able to land some telling right hands.

Howden came out for the last round in determined fashion and what started as a tactical chess match was now a good old shoot out, with both boxers putting it all on the line.

Buzylo's punch accuracy shone through and it gave him a well-deserved points decision as well at the award for the best bout of the night.

New Horizon Boxing Club would like to thank TCQ Limited who sponsored the show, as well as all the bout sponsors and the businesses who donated to the raffle for their continued support.

And also a big thanks to the public for once again showing their fantastic support.