FOLLOWING on from the previous week, two boxers from the Launceston Amateur Boxing Club ventured to Weston-super-Mare for the Western Counties finals of the National Junior Championships on Saturday April 4, writes Craig Charnock.

First on for Launceston was Wesley Smith (16) who faced Gary Coles (16) from the Kingswood ABC. The computer scoring system was in operation, which is where three of the five judges have to see a scoring blow and press a red or blue button within a second of each other to register a point. Knowing this, Wes elected to keep the bout at long range as it is very difficult to score any points up close as most of the judges cannot see the shots landing from the different sides of the boxing ring.

The first round saw Wes try and take control using long fast left's and right's and soon saw the Kingswood boxer retreating on the back foot. The Launceston boy kept a tight guard and caught most of the shots from Gary on his arms and gloves and stuck to the game plan to the bell.

Running scores are given out between rounds and Wes was only one point up. It was obvious to see that jabs were not being scored and so Wes went out once again to keep the bout long range and let more right hand leads go. The Kingswood boy had been sent out to push Wes back and came out swinging and pushing. Wes found his right leads to the rushing Gary who was now making the bout messy with Wes refusing to be pushed back. Both boys battled hard to the bell.

The computer score now had Wes two points up and knew that Gary was going to come out all guns blazing. Wes stuck to his game plan, scored long shots to the head of the rushing Kingswood boy and kept a tight guard when the boy got close. The now tiring Kingswood boy was getting caught more often with solid rights and Wes kept it all together to the final bell. The final score being 7 points to 3 in favour of Wes who was declared the winner and Western Counties Champion.

Next on for Launceston was Jameel Sandham (17) who faced Nathan Snow (17) from Broadplain boys club. This contest was to be boxed over four rounds.

From the opening bell, both boxers scored well with very hurtful looking lefts and rights with the Broadplain boy loading every punch. Jameel scored well on the counter and landed some solid body shots with the round finishing 3 points to 2 in favour of the Broadplain boxer.

The second round was a copy of the first with both boys having their success, landing very heavy shots to the head and body. The score at the end of this round was 5 points to 3 in favour of Broadplain.

The third saw a very tired Jameel try and fend off several two fisted attacks from the Broadplain boy and taking one or two due to his fitness starting to fail him. Jameel battled hard but was now starting to fall behind with the score now being 13 points to 7 in favour of Nathan Snow.

The final round saw Jameel go out all guns blazing in a final effort to reverse the score but just could not find the target. He kept the pressure on to the final bell, letting go with four and five punch combinations but taking several back in return and losing to a score of 20 point to 9. The bout was lost but was hailed as one of the best battles of the day.

The National Quarter finals will be held at Bristol on May 9 where Wes will face John Saunders from the St Mary's ABC, who is the NACYP champion and last year's National Champion. The Launceston Club also have a local show on the same day at the Memorial Hall in Holsworthy where most of the club will be competing against other boxers from around the country. For information about the Holsworthy show please contact Clare on 01566 86617.