IT WAS a tough night at the office for the home boxers at Saturday night’s Launceston Amateur Boxing Club show at the Eagle House Hotel as they only managed one victory.

They faced top opposition from around the country in a 14-bout line-up, which was watched by a sizeable audience who raised the roof in support of their beloved boxers.

The first four bouts saw the Launceston youngsters compete in skills contests which are fought over three one-minute rounds and where there are no results.

Launceston’s Leighton Platt (10) opened the show and treated the audience to a supreme display of confidence and ability against Alex Seraphin (11) from Saltash ABC.

Club-mate Billy Jago (11) gave an equally impressive display against his lively opponent Richard Pollak (10) from Malmesbury ABC in Wiltshire.

Alfie Rowland(12) took on skills bout veteran and southpaw Ollie Baker (11) from National Smelting ABC in Bristol. Rowland used good footwork to keep himself out of trouble from the ever advancing Bristolian.

Launceston’s Taylor Wood (11) took on Malmesbury’s Daniel Gilbert (12) in another skills contest.

This was a ‘David v Goliath’ affair with the Launceston boy having to call on everything he had to get near the much taller Gilbert.

All the Launceston youngsters look to be stars of the future and ones to look out for.

Tyler Gregory (13) made his debut appearance and faced the much more experienced Swaley Greaves (13) from the famous Finchley ABC in London in a bout which consisted of three 90-second rounds.

Gregory impressed with fantastic boxing skills combined with thunderous right hand counters against the relentless two-fisted attacks from his opponent.

However, the result went against the Launceston boxer on a majority points decision. Gregory picked up the best ‘Junior Bout of the Night’ award and is certainly a champion in the making.

Ryley Keat (13) did battle with George Francombe (14) from the Malmesbury club under the same conditions as Gregory.

After a solid two rounds from the Launceston boxer, Francombe took over with his superior fitness and boxed his way to a well-earned points decision.

Launceston’s unbeaten southpaw, Tresillian Gwennap (13), suffered his first defeat in a rematch with Alfie Jago (13) from Stonehouse ABC in Plymouth.

Gwennap battled hard to keep Jago at bay but neglected to use his left hand throughout the contest, which made a big difference on the judges scorecards after three two-minute rounds.

Brandon Charnock (15) also had a rematch with Malmesbury’s Kyle Bains (15) in another very close affair which saw both lads have their fair share of success. Charnock’s hand was raised as the winner in a contest that could have gone either way.

Trystan Gwennap (16) took on local rival Sam Cox (16) from Bude.

Gwennap was not at the races and allowed his opponent to tee off with hurtful looking shots which ended with Gwennap’s corner throwing in the towel early into the second round to save him for another day.

Female boxer Carrie Genini (38), a latecomer to the sport, made her debut and faced Shannon Ryan (21) from Finchley ABC in a three-round affair with each round lasting two minutes.

Genini set a blistering pace throughout and was unrelenting with her pressure, forcing her opponent on to the back foot. However she neglected most of her defences and allowed the Londoner to score enough to win on the judges scorecards.

Top of the bill saw Launceston’s Sam Smith in a rematch against the ABA light-middleweight champion Damian O’Neil from Reading, which was contested over nine minutes (three three-minute rounds).

Smith unleashed thunderous right-hand left-hook leads to the head and body, but the tricky southpaw’s defences stayed sound and he countered well.

A very close and entertaining contest that once again saw O’Neil declared the winner with a unanimous points win.

Coach Des Charnock said: “Irrespective of the results, all the boxers were brilliant and the Launceston public loved them. They gave their all in very exciting, entertaining and hard-fought contests. I couldn’t be more proud of them, we win together and we lose together.

“Sure, we all want to win but the result of the contest is not important — however, the performance is. As I always say to them, it is better to box well and lose than box bad and win and they all boxed superbly!

“They can all hold their heads up high for putting on a fantastic night of boxing and for being true sportsmen and women and accepting the judges’ decisions like true athletes. Well done to them all, I am so very proud of them.”