THREE of Launceston Amateur Boxing Club’s young boxers travelled into the ‘lions den’ on Saturday night to compete against local opposition on the NSC ABC show at the Shirehampton Public Hall near Bristol.

First up for Launceston saw Tyler Gregory (13) take on Barnstaple’s Charlie Ludwell who came with three times the experience of Gregory.

The first bell saw Gregory take control over the centre of the ring — boxing behind fast left jabs and solid right hands keeping Ludwell at range, scoring well throughout the 90-second round.

The second-round saw the Barnstaple battler push forward to try and close down the range, but Gregory’s clever footwork and defensive skills kept him out of trouble whilst connecting with solid straight right hands to the head.

The third and final stanza saw Gregory push forward to keep his opponent backed up to the ropes connecting with barrages of two-fisted combinations and ran out a clear winner with a unanimous points decision and take his record to three wins from four contests.

Next up was club mate Alfie Rowland (12) who was participating in his first competitive contest and squared up to NSC’s Harvey Tyler (12) also in his first contest in another three 90-second round contest.

The very nervous Launceston youngster started off well, firing jabs before moving out of range for the counters. But the Bristolian remained calm under fire and pushed forward to keep Rowland on the back foot with two-fisted attacks and finished the round the stronger of the two.

The second-round saw the Launceston boxer’s nervous energy completely wipe out his fuel tank — causing him to stop throwing punches and go entirely on the defensive.

Rowland remained brave against the two-fisted combination punching and was not going to quit, but his corner threw in the towel to save him for another day.

Coach Des Charnock said: “I’m very proud of Alfie for having the courage to climb through the ropes but this contest was a little too soon for him, so it’s back to the gym to do a little more work. Lots to come from Alfie, of that I’m sure, so watch this space!”

Last up for Launceston saw Brandon Charnock (15) once again take a last minute contest against Jazper Peacey (15) from the host club.

From the opening bell, Brandon utilised his ‘hit and not be hit’ approach against the strong looking Bristolian in this contest which was played out under three two-minute rounds.

Charnock connected well with his jabs and straight right hands before slipping and rolling under Jazper’s counter attacks through the opening exchanges.

The second-round saw Peacey go up another gear and close down the range as he connected with solid body shots forcing the Launceston boxer onto the back foot.

The final 120 seconds saw Peacey being spurred on by his supporters, open up with all he had and push hard to the final bell and once the bell had gone, saw his hand raised as the winner with a well-earned unanimous points win.

Brandon’s 16-year-old Callum Charnock will aim to be crowned national champion on Sunday in London when he takes on St Albans’ fellow 16-year-old Christian Bozzia in London in the under 60kg final of the Amateur Boxing Alliance National Junior Championships.