3 Islington ABC boxers were in action last Thursday at the Finchley & District ABC show, held at the Boston Arms.

Islington female Cherrelle Brown, defeated Heart of Portsmouth’s debutant Tanya Bowyer, on a unanimous points decision. Brown, fleet footed in the opening round, proved an elusive target for Bowyer. A left right combination from Brown stopped the HOP boxer in her tracks midway through the round.The second saw Bowyer close the gap on her taller opponent, but could not land cleanly more than a couple of times in the round.The final round had Brown making a hasty retreat, back-peddling furiously as Bowyer became desperate. Both boxers scored well with counter punches.The decision however, was unanimous to Brown for her earlier work.

Islington light-middleweight Mo Farah, dropped a unanimous decision to Oxford B.A’s strong A.Howard, over 3 x 2 minute rounds. Farah, opting not to employ his normal all action style, was caught with some eye catching body punches from Howard in the opener.In the second, it was Farah’s turn to land some hard punches on his opponent, who took them well and came roaring back towards the end of the round.In the final round, a big right from Howard caught Farah as he retreated and wobbled the legs of the IBC man. The referee rightly issued a standing count. Farah tried to fight back thereafter, but the bout by then was beyond reach.

Islington’s popular heavyweight Jermaine Kelly, found himself being frustrated and out thought before being stopped by Fitroy Lodge’s Ricardo Slue in the 3rd round. Slue, moving around his shorter opponent seemed always one step ahead. Poking out a fast jab and tying up his opponent whenever Kelly got too close for comfort. A double hook from Kelly near the end of the round was his best work.In the second, Slue upped the tempo, firing away with both hands and again, looking to use holding and leaning on tactics to stop Kelly working on the inside. The Islington man was clearly getting frustrated, which only served to play into the hands of Slue.At the start of the third, Kelly was dropped by a right hand as he was caught square and rushing in. After the eight count, Kelly tried to rush his opponent only to come up against a two handed flurry, which against forced another count. At the completion of the eight count, the referee had seen enough and waved the contest over.

Report by Bevis Allen