THE Eagle House Hotel hosted Launceston Amateur Boxing Club’s show at short-notice on Saturday night following the sudden closure of its original venue.
Given only nine days’ notice, a superb event was staged which saw a 16-bout line-up featuring nine of the club’s up-and-coming stars in front of a huge and very appreciative audience, which included local comedian Jethro, who was a guest of Homeleigh Garden Centre’s Derek Broad.
First up for Launceston saw club mates Billy Jago (10) and Leighton Platt (10) treat the audience to a fantastic display of boxing skills against each other.
You would never have known that this was their first time out in a boxing ring and was an advert as to how all skills bouts should be with neither boxer being picked up for a single fault by the referee.
The very composed and stylish Platt (son of Launceston professional boxer Jordan Platt) was well balanced and picked his shots with supreme accuracy against the all-action style and fancy combination punching of Jago with coach Des Charnock believing that they are definitely both champions in the making.
Next up for Launceston saw Alfie Rowland (11) make his debut in his skills contest against Isaac Chilcott (11) from NSC in Bristol.
Rowland had to call upon all his training to keep the aggressive, come-forward Chilcott at bay as he connected with eye-catching jabs as well as utilising great footwork and defences.
Coach Charnock commented: “It was a brilliant performance from this youngster considering he had to call on all his courage to make a last minute decision to box on the show. Alfie bravely climbed through the ropes and performed like a veteran.”
Debutant Taylor Wood (11) couldn’t wait to get in the ring and took on Malmesbury’s Jakob Thomas (10) in a very entertaining skills contest, with both boxers giving as good as they were getting.
Launceston’s Ryley Keat (13) was up against it with a much taller Evan Loasby (14) from the Warriors club in Torquay in the last skills bout on the show.
Keat struggled with the range at the start but soon found his rhythm using faster footwork and great movement connecting with straight shots to the head and body.
The ever-improving Tresillian Gwennap (13) squared up with Alfie Jago (13) from the new Stonehouse club in Plymouth. Jago made history by becoming the first ever boxer to compete for them.
Gwennap took control behind his solid southpaw jab making it difficult for the Devon boxer to get near him.
However, Jago upped the pace rolling under Gwennap’s punches and throwing four and five-punch combinations.
The Launceston boxer’s defences were sound and matched fire with fire, connecting with left uppercuts and right hooks.
Jago continued to push hard but Gwennap was in a ’refuse-to-lose’ mood and battled to the final bell. Gwennap was raised as the winner with a unanimous points decision.
Two of Charnock’s sons, Brandon (14) and Callum (15), were the next two Launceston fighters in action.
Brandon took on Barnstaple’s Billy Shepperd (14) in what his father described as the ‘most improved performance on the night’.
From the opening bell, Charnock looked sharp — drawing Shepperd’s lead punch and countering with thunderous one-two combinations.
The Barnstaple boxer continued to push forward with everything he had but was being caught repeatedly with the classier punching.
Charnock looked to have it ’in the bag’ going out for the third-round, but Shepperd poured on the pressure, forcing a standing eight-count on the now tiring Launceston boxer.
Charnock was somehow able to keep it together and all the hard work in the first two rounds was enough to see his hand raised as the winner on a unanimous points decision.
Older brother Callum took on another Barnstaple battler in the shape of 16-year-old Jed Davies.
This was a return match from 2015, which was a very close affair, with Charnock getting the nod.
Both boxers have come a long way since then with the Launceston boxer picking up a national title last year.
Charnock looked fierce and sharp with lightning hand speed and power, but as per the norm, the Barnstaple southpaw came for a battle and a battle is what he gave.
The flashier boxing from the younger man was complemented with the dogged determination from Davies, which resulted in a very fierce and crowd-pleasing battle to the final bell.
Charnock’s hand was raised as the winner with a unanimous points decision with both boxers earning the best ‘Junior Bout of the Night’ awards chosen by Dr Peter Jackson.
Last up for Launceston was Sam Smith who faced ABA Middleweight champion and London ABA Challenge belt holder Damon O’Neill from Reading.
This was a massive step up for Smith, who wasn’t fazed in the slightest. O’Neill proved to be a very skilful and slippery counter-puncher with blistering hand speed from his southpaw stance.
Smith unleashed punches that would knock down many, but the Reading boxer’s defences were sound.
It was a very nip and tuck affair with both men tasting success.
The Altarnun boxer threw caution into the wind for the last round and tried to blast him out, but the champion remained calm under pressure and the final bell saw his hand raised as the winner with a majority points win.
Reflecting on the night, club trainer, Des Charnock, said: “I’ve got to say a massive thank you and huge respect to everyone behind the scenes for putting on a flawless event yet again!
“You are all fantastic people and the unsung heroes behind the boxing club’s success, especially Leeann Charnock and Sarah Gwennap. Well done to you too, I am so proud of you!”
To find out more about the club and to see hundreds of photos from the evening, search ‘Launceston Amateur Boxing Club’ on Facebook.
Full results involving Launceston boxers —
Billy Jago (Launceston) Skills Leighton Platt (Launceston); Alfie Rowland (Launceston) Skills Isaac Chilcott (National Smelting Company Boxing Club, Bristol); Taylor Wood (Launceston) Skills Jakob Thomas (Malmesbury); Ryley Keat (Launceston) Skills Evan Loasby (Warriors); Tresillian Gwennap (Launceston) beat Alfie Jago (Stonehouse) by unanimous points decision; Brandon Charnock (Launceston) beat Billy Shepperd (Barnstaple) by unanimous points decision; Callum Charnock (Launceston) beat Jed Davies (Barnstaple) by unanimous points decision; Damon O’Neill (Reading) beat Sam Smith (Launceston) by a majority points decision