BOXING: Good display by Malmesbury boxers at Swindon show (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Big-punching Chris Bull unlucky to lose decision

12:25pm Wednesday 24th October 2012 in Sport

MALMESBURY Boxing Club got the new season off the ground at Swindon’s Next Generation Centre where they had four boxers in action at Horseshoe ABC’s show.

First up was junior Jamie Strevens in a return bout with Synwell’s Jamie Brindle and these two evenly-matched boys put on a spirited contest with the Synwell boy edging home on the closest of majority decisions.

Senior featherweight Greg Cook has not enjoyed the best of luck in recent times with some debatable decisions going against him. A renewed commitment this season certainly paid dividends when he met Sam Watt (Heart of Devon) and, after three action-packed rounds he took the points victory.

Brodie Winstone conceded weight to the host club’s stocky Jordan Rye and fought with his customary determination. Sometimes he was guilty of stifling his work by getting too close to his shorter opponent but landed enough clean punches to get the judges’ vote.

Powerful middleweight Chris Bull made his debut in the final bout of the evening against Horseshoe’s Jack O’Reilly and there could have not been a more dramatic finale.

The taller O’Reilly proved to be a difficult opponent to get to and Bull struggled to get his punches off to any effect as the local boy kept him at arm's length.

Bull took most of the punches on gloves and arms but he was falling behind on work-rate alone until the last seconds of the final round when a crunching right hand sent O’Reilly crashing to the canvas.

He struggled to his feet to beat the count just as the bell ended the fight, thereby avoiding the stoppage defeat which would have been inevitable and was awarded the decision in the luckiest of circumstances.