Picture special and report from Horsham Boxing Club’s fantastic Drill Hall show

At their busiest show to date, Horsham BC’s juniors opened proceedings with four skills bouts where no winner or loser is declared.

Tommielee James, 11, was up against Archie Leitch of Atomic ABC. He boxed to instruction, using his boxing skills to pick his punches effectively. After using his footwork well in the opening round, James let a flurry of punches go, landing solid combinations. The second and third rounds followed suit and were evenly contested, and both lads had their hands raised and received well-deserved applause.

Johnny Scarborough showed his skills against Bordon’s Henry Jones. In the first round, he was boxing beautifully. In the second round, Scarborough was caught with a punch which bloodied his nose and as the doctor couldn’t stop the flow, the skills bout had to end early but both lads’ hands were raised.

The third skills bout saw Horsham’s John-Jack Ockendon face Maxwell Kingshott of Phoenix Boxing Eastbourne. They used their skills to box and move. Ockendon was varying his punches and using what he has learnt in the gym and the pair had their hands raised.

Frazer Hodgson of Horsham was in the last skills bout against Leo Stiles from Punchout Boxing Academy. Hodgson started the first round with a variation of combinations as he glided around the ring. In a very even match up and with no winner declared, both lads heard the crowd roar as their hands were raised.

Tony Giles was first to represent Horsham in a scoring contest, facing Silvio Alferi from Ringcraft Boxing ABC. Alferi started strong but Giles remained composed and used his foot defences and counter punches. Giles started to work at his pace, catching Alferi with solid punches.In the second round, Giles started as he finished the first, forcing the referee to jump in, giving the Ringcraft boxer a standing-eight count. Giles continued applying the pressure and the referee once again had to give Alferi a standing-eight count. Giles landed a flurry of strong punches, and the referee had to stop the contest, declaring Giles the winner and earning him the boxer of the night title.

Levi Mitchell was having his first bout against Kane Brooker of Academy BC. Mitchell started strong and continued to box well through to the second round. Mitchell started to slow and Brooker came on stronger and took the win by points decision. Next for Horsham was Jude Thompson, who faced Shea Ward of Royal Resistance and used his reach and height to his advantage, picking his punches well. Thompson took the win in a very even contest.

Horsham’s Owen Mitchell faced Charlie Howe from Gatwick Keystone BC in both boxers’ first bouts. Mitchell used his jab to find his range. Howe came back stronger in the second and in the final round, Mitchell started to tire and Howe caught him, forcing the referee to give Mitchell a standing-eight count. Another followed and the ref called it off and made Howe the winner.

Harvey Dowding was next for Horsham, facing Brad Cheeseman of Bordon ABC. Dowding started well to land solid punches on Cheeseman. In the second round, Cheeseman fired strong combinations and the referee gave Dowding a standing-eight count. Towards the end of the second round, Cheeseman landed a powerful rear hand and the referee stopped the contest, Cheeseman the winner.

Horsham club captain Noah Jolly, after a few bad results, was eager to get the win in front of his home crowd. Facing Jack Carter of Jabxing, Jolly started fast but Carter looked to counter punch. The second round had Jolly working on the front foot. In the final round, both began to feel the pace and after three action-packed rounds, Jolly was declared the winner by a unanimous decision. National bronze winner Phelan Jeffery was up against Baseet Bello from Royal Resistance. Jeffery started well but the Royal Resistance boxer forced Jeffery to work on the back foot. In the second round, both lads were trying to box on the front foot. At the end of three rounds, Jeffery took the win by a unanimous decision.

Atlanta Brown – after Peyton-Marie Jeffery and Olivia Baker’s opponents pulled out – was the only female to represent Horsham at the show. She faced Anna Rose King from Miguels BC and started by firing straight punches, forcing King on to the back foot. In the second round, Brown continued working the front foot. In the final round, King came on stronger – but after all three rounds, Brown was declared victorious. Last to box for Horsham was fan-favourite Zack Treliving, facing Joe Holmes of Eastleigh ABC. Treliving upped the pace in round two and fired solid combinations. Holmes was given a standing-eight count then the contest was stopped, ending the night on a high for HBC with another winner.

So Horsham achieved six wins from nine, with all boxers seeing hard work pay off. Head coach Danny Essex said: “I’m really pleased with everyone’s performance, even the ones who didn’t get the win have done so well and achieved so much outside the ring. As a coach, I couldn’t be prouder. The show ran so well and it was buzzing.”