Case of mixed fortunes for Malmesbury Amateur Boxing Club (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Case of mixed fortunes for Malmesbury Amateur Boxing Club

MALMESBURY Amateur Boxing Club met with mixed fortunes as three of their schoolboy champions met opposition from London in the National quarter-finals in Bristol last Saturday.

First into action was exciting prospect Joe Hughes who immediately knew he had his hands full against West Ham's Dudley O'Shaunessy.

Hughes, who had boxed three times to reach this stage, began promisingly as he connected solidly with an opening left jab.

But the tall West Hammer refused to be rattled and the two boys battled at a hectic pace right up to the bell to end the first round.

It was more of the same in the second with Hughes having success with left jabs and hooks as O'Shaunessy pressed relentlessly forward.

Changing tactics in the last, the West Hammer cleverly stepped outside of Hughes' jab and crossed his right on enough occasions to earn the close points verdict.

Luke Stevens, who had received a walkover in the Western Counties round, emerged a points winner over Ricky Theobald from Hornchurch and Elm Park.

The slick-moving Stevens showed impressive footwork and fist combinations to keep Theobald at arms length.

A perfectly placed right hand in the second visibly shook the Hornchurch boy and, had Stevens pressed home the advantage, an early stoppage may well have been on the cards.

Theobald tried desperately to trap Stevens on the ropes in the third. However, the elusive Malmesbury boy fired in classy combinations and glided away from Theobald's attempts to counter.

Although a comfortable winner, Stevens will have to work on increasing his punch rate before the semi-finals in Dagenham on Saturday, March 13.

Malmesbury's third quarter-finalist, Richard Sheppard, also reached this stage by walkover, but lost his unbeaten record at the hands of Danny Londers.

Sheppard contested the bout in spirited fashion, but made the mistake of just covering up when trapped on the ropes instead of replying with his own punches.

As a result, the Malmesbury lad received standing counts in the first and second.

In the end, a third count in the final round signalled the automatic termination of the bout.