Junior Christy McCarthy, boxed a controlled aggressive contest to overcome Southend’s Albie Scopes. McCarthy went after his opponent, forcing Scopes on the back foot and then scoring with hard body shots. McCarthy eventually won via unanimous decision.

Safi Abdullah (Islington) won a majority decision against Rifat Hussein (Eltham & District). The contest was finely balanced. Abdullah, landed the harder shots, while Hussein’s work-rate was higher.

Islington’s Faizullah Uriakhail and Redbridge’s Humza Abbas, suffered the ignominy of a ‘double’ disqualification in the opening round of their contest. The referee finally lost patience with both boxers after warning them consistently for dangerous headwork.

Islington’s Junior captain Ben Turner, won a rousing contest, turning back the challenge of reigning National School’s champion Ryan Adair (Cambridge Police). Turner was the aggressor throughout, landing with heavy handed shots to head and body. Adair came back strongly in the last, but lost out to Turner by a unanimous decision.*

In an entertaining female contest, Denmark’s Julianne Hayden (BK Varde), and ‘guesting’ for Islington, did well in her 4 x 2’s contest, losing a unanimous points decision to Gorton ABC’s classy Laura Kelly. Kelly had Hayden on the floor in the third round after a straight right hand landed flush.

In another female contest, Islington’s unbeaten Cherrelle Brown, took a unanimous decision over Waltham Forest’s Deayndra Allen. Brown controlled the centre of the ring, and having success with moving Allen onto the back foot. Allen, landed some nice counters, but Brown had the edge.

Islington’s improving welterweight Jeff Ofori, beat Times ABC’s Lee Devine in what was an enjoyable 3×2’s contest. Ofori’s fast hand speed made the difference. The third saw Ofori almost force a standing count as Devine covered up on the ropes, trying his best to weather the storm.

Super heavyweight Christian Nwofor, secured his maiden win in boxing & the ‘best boxer of the night’ trophy, after walking down Lewsey ABC’s Craig Smith. Nwofor, boxed patiently in every round, stalking his man before landing in flurries.

In the headline bout, Islington and Jamaican International Reece Shagourie, lost a hotly disputed majority decision against Basingstoke’s awkward Bryce Goodridge. Southpaw Shagourie made all the running, landing punches over Goodridge’s long jab. Unfortunately Shagourie thinking the bout was safe, took his foot off the pedal in the last, allowing his opponent to rally late on.

Also on the same bill, Times ABC’s Alfie Andrews lost a tight majority decision to Bracknell’s Clay Elmes.

*Our Junior Club Captain Ben Turner,  nearly pulled out of his fight (which he won against a current National Schoolboy Champion) at the very last minute when he found out that his Mum who was in the crowd had an allergic reaction and collapsed inside the stadium and was awaiting an ambulance to arrive. Obviously Ben and the rest of his family were very concerned and worried for his Mum’s welfare but Ben himself decided after a one-2-one talk with his coach Paul Hammick that ’the show must go on’ and still compete in this contest. It is to Ben’s credit that he put up such a good performance in the circumstances and unsurprisingly after the fight quickly went to see how his Mum was. Thankfully after some checks and medical attention at Whittington Hospital Mrs Turner was released and has made a full recovery.

• Basingstoke
• Southend
• Cambridge Police
• BBK Varde (Denmark)
• Gorten (Manchester)
• Times (Islington)
• Redbridge (NE London)
• Lewsey (Luton)
• Bracknell
• Waltham Forest

The club produced a fantastic 48-page A4 commemorative programme, probably the best programme we have had so far and possibly the best ever seen at an amateur boxing event and I’m confident that in future they will keep improving from each show we host.

The show/programme was kindly sponsored by the following people & companies

• Mama Gee’s
• Box Fit
• Punch 1 Boxing
• London Car Boot
• Foreign Payments
• Dave Barron (also kindly made a donation to the club)
• Robinson Crusoe Sports Bar
• The George Pub
• O’Keeffe’s
• She Wore A Yellow Ribbon
• Garbanzo
• Ubiquitous Taxi’s
• Whites Gentleman Club
• Wembley Scaffolding
• Simply Aesthtics
• Platinum Lace

We will be adding a new page to the website very soon on which will feature all the above advertisers with links to their website and details of the relevant companies. These posts will last for 6 months from the original advertisement placed in the clubs programme. A great investment for any company seeing as we get 1000′s of hits on our website and a great way to advertise. Why not get in touch with the club to discuss potential advertising/sponsorship opportunities that we offer and contribute to a great charity at the same time?

Islington Boxing club’s junior club captain Ben Turner (63.5kg, born 1997), fought his way to the London Junior ABA finals on Sunday, winning by unanimous decision in semi final contest held at the home of Earlsfield ABC.

Ben’s opponent was Keenan Morrison from South Norwood & Victory BC. Morrison came out fast in the early stages of the 1st round trying to seize the initiative from Turner. Turner stuck to the instructions given to him by coach John Emberson, and boxed behind good long range punches. Soon Turner was picking his opponent off with ease.

Turner himself started the second much faster and dominated the session, giving Morrison a standing eight count. The final round saw Turner consolidate his overall advantage and cruised home.

Turner is joined in Sunday’s London Finals by club mates Tyrone Negasi (50kg, born 1997) and Patrick McDonagh (50kg, born 1996).

Report by Bevis Allen

Islington’s Junior Michael McDonagh ended up on the wrong side of a unanimous points verdict, in a bout he appeared to dominate for large periods against West Ham’s Tony O’Driscoll. McDonagh, threw the more eye catching punches throughout, but O’Driscoll kept working steadily away. The last round saw some fierce exchanges take place. McDonagh’s more accurate scoring looked to have been enough, but all three judges gave the nod to O’Driscoll.

Two of the best Light-Middleweights in the country in Islington’s Aarron Morgan and Broad Street’s Karol Ozimkowski, served up a treat in a pulsating contest over 3×3’s. Sharp counterpunching from Morgan in the opening round put him in control. The second started with Ozimkowski showing more aggression as he back Morgan in a neutral corner. Morgan tucked up and weathered the storm coming back with two big right hands, stunning Ozimkowski in the process. Ozimkowski, raised the bar again in the last, scoring with some eye catching punches to the body. Morgan rallied again with two hooks to the body, but Ozimkoswki kept working away to the final bell. The judges could not have scored it any closer, but Ozimkowski got the verdict by virtue of the tiniest of margins.

Report by Bevis Allen

Islington and Jamaican International Reece Shagourie was in action on an Earlsfield ABC open show held at their club gym on Saturday 20th April 2013 against the very experienced middleweight from the hosts, Robert Garvery. Shagourie and Garvery have had over 180 bouts between them.

Shagourie’s movement and combinations were too sharp for Garvery in this open class Middleweight (75kg) contest, Shagoruie won via a UD points verdict in front of a good supported Earlsfield crowd.

Report by John ‘JR’ Richards

Two Islington boxers were in action on the prestigious London v Army show, held at the Fairfield Halls in Croydon.

Islington’s Light-Welterweight James Woodward, was up against former 3-time National ABA champion Martin Stead. Woodward took the opener, as he stamped his authority, using a crisp jab to back up Stead and then worked the Army man’s body with left and right hooks. Stead, trying to draw Woodward in, was not having much success, although he got through with a nice left hook to Woodward’s body, but Woodward came straight back with a four punch combination.

The second round started in much the same fashion, with Woodward marching forward, with hands held high, and Stead retreating to the ropes. A long uppercut from Stead caught Woodward flush on the nose. The action was allowed to continue momentarily, before blood started flowing from the nose of Woodward. The referee correctly called a halt while the doctor came and inspected the damage. After a fair while, the injury was deemed serious enough for the bout to be stopped. The official verdict was a 2^nd round stoppage on cuts.

In the contest awarded ‘Best Bout of the Night’ , Islington ABC Light-Middleweight, Enrico Mullings, finished on the wrong end of a controversial majority decision, going down to the Army’s Trevor Littler, in a contest Mullings looked to have clearly won. Right from the opening bell, both boxers went straight down to business. Mullings constantly catching his opponent with the double jab, caught Littler with two useful looking right hands. The second round was an even more dominant one for Mullings, this time using the right uppercut to come back with damaging left hooks. The third session went the way of the Army man. Littler caught Mullings with a low blow and Mullings lost concentration and was put under constant pressure thereafter. The last round saw Mullings, clearly feeling the pace, re-establish command of the bout, keeping Littler off balance with double jabs and straight right hands. Littler caught Mullings with a right hand just as the bell sounded. The crowd voiced their approval with loud applause lasting over a minute. The judges strangely went for Littler via a majority decision. As scant consolation, Mullings took ‘Best Boxer of the Night.’

Islington Boxing Club came away from the Edmonton Eagles Open Show on Thursday, 31^st January with two victories over opponents from the host club.

Every improving Welterweight, Jeffrey Ofori, made it three wins on the bounce after stopping Michael Saky (Edmonton Eagles) in the last round. Both boxers started cagily in the opening moments. Ofori, stalking his man, scored with a couple of sharp jabs, with Saky replying with two well timely right hands. The second round shaped up much the same as the first, with neither boxer committing themselves too much. The bout was shaping up to a stalemate, until Ofori finally decided to take a chance in the final round. A sustained two handed barrage with Saky trapped in a corner, forced a standing eight count. When action was resumed, it was more of the same, with Ofori’s non-stop punching forcing the referee to rightly end proceedings.

Islington Cruiserweight debutant, Paul Keyte, emerged victorious outpointing Edmonton Eagles game Dan Compton over three, two minute rounds. The tall and rangy Keyte, held the centre of the ring, forcing his opponent to box on the outside. Both scored well with their southpaw right jabs. In the second, Keyte scored with three hard shots to the body, but was caught by a good right hand from Compton as he came rushing in. The final round was all one way traffic, as Keyte forced a standing count, and then continued to bully his opponent across the ring. The judges decision was unanimous in favour of the Islington boxer.

Islington’s ABA championship hopefuls failed to progressed to the National Quarter Finals as all three were eliminated at the London stage on Saturday.

Islington’s Under 60kgs, NW London Champion Carlos Moreno, looked hard done by, losing out on the tightest of majority decision’s against West Ham favourite Charlie Driscoll. Moreno, scored first with a hard right to the body in the opener, and Driscoll replied with a left hook to the head. Moreno however, won the round with some clever counter punching. Driscoll forced the pace in the second to even things up. The last saw Moreno continually push Driscoll on the back foot and landed frequently. A few eyebrows were raised when Driscoll’s hand was raised.

James Woodward, boxed almost the perfect fight, overcoming a slow start against Repton’s Romeo Wallace (Under 63.5Kg) to totally dominate in the last two rounds. Wallace, looked in control, firing off swift counters, hooks and uppercuts. As Wallace slowed, Woodward picked up the pace, getting in hurtful looking hooks to head and body. The final session was all Woodward, forcing a standing count after sustained pressure, and finished with a five punch combination. All five judges giving the verdict to Woodward.

In the final, Woodward faced Lynn ABC’s Chris Mbwakongo. Woodward’s tactic of allowing Mwakongo to tired himself out backfired, as the Lynn boxer took an early lead, and when Woodward did try and get back in it, was met with strong resistance. The third session was easily the best, as both boxers staggered the other, but Mwakongo had done more than enough to take the title.

In the under 75Kg semi-final, Reece Shagourie, bamboozled Fitzroy Lodge’s Andre Sterling, en-route to a wide unanimous decision. Sterling simply had no answer to Shagourie’s jab or movement. At times Sterling, out of sheer frustration, launched himself at Shagourie, only to be met with straight jolting punches. Shagourie, kept up the pace for all three sessions. The judges were in no doubt whatsoever.

In the final, Shagourie met his ‘mirror image’ in Earlsfield’s Lerone Richards. The bout was a scrappy affair and not pleasing on the eye, as both southpaws cancelled each out. Shagourie had trouble finding his range and when he did, Richards would score first then hold. Both boxers received a two point deduction in the second for holding. Richards took the verdict by virtue of remaining slightly more composed than Shagourie.

A bumper crowd at the Boston Dome witnessed some excellent, competitive bouts on the Islington Boxing Club show last Thursday, held at the Boston Dome, with each of the bouts on show featuring a boxer from the home club.

Islington’s John McDonagh, was outworked over three 1 ½ minute rounds by Rayleigh’s Harry Dell. McDonagh gave his all but Dell was simply just too busy for him.

Pat Docherty could consider himself unlucky, going down to a surprise majority points defeat to Finchley’s Joseph Ward. Docherty pressed early, forcing two standing counts as Ward looked to survive. Ward came back strongly in the last and nicked the tightest of decisions.

Paddy McCarthy, dropped a points verdict to Ayman Ramadan (Dale Youth). The sharp counter punches of Ramadan caused problems throughout for McCarthy, but the Islington boxer finished the bout strongly.

A controlled performance from Christy McCarthy was enough to gain a unanimous verdict over Rayleigh prospect Billy Bellfield. McCarthy won the first, simply by walking forward and throwing punches from all angles, without getting wild. Bellfield levelled things up in the second, but accurate punches from McCarthy in the last settled matters.

Fairburn’s Mandeep Nota outpointed Malachi Borrell over three two’s. Borrell came out aggressively, but Nota stayed just out of range until Borrell started to tire and then took over.

Crowd favourite Ben Turner, was outfoxed by classy Inder Bassi (Gator) over three rounds. Turner slamming in hooks and right hands early, looked ready to overwhelm Bassi, but slowly the Gator boxer took over, repeatedly catcher Turner with right uppercuts.

Debutant Faizyllah Uriakitan terrorised poor Orhan Ferizi (Dale Youth), before their corner wisely threw in the towel midway through the last round. Uriakitan constantly caught Ferizi with hard rights to the head, and forced an eight count in the second. Uriakitan looks one to watch.

Safi Abdullah made it five wins out of five, as he outboxed Umair Andsari (Fairburn). Abdullah, showed nice footwork in places, catching his opponent with clean punches before moving gracefully out of range.

Pat McDonagh, lost a close contest with Pat Corcorn (Hooks). There was virtually nothing in it, going into the last, as McDonagh took the first session and Corcoran then evened things up in the second. The last could have gone either way, but it was Corcoran’s hand that was raised at the finish.

In a battle of heavyweight juniors, 90Kg debutant Alex Mbafeno lost a points verdict to Dale Youth’s David Adelese. Mbanfeno started very confidently, but after taking all Mbafeno had to offer, Adelese, grew in confidence and outworked his opponent. 

Islington’s Cherrelle Brown, maintained her unbeaten record, stopping Hanwell’s Charley Todd in the final round, in a battle of current and past female ABA champions. Brown, couldn’t get her timing right in the opener, but once she settled, a barrage of lefts and rights forced a standing count. The end was not far away, Brown trapping her opponent on the ropes and letting go with both hands.

Carl Mbombo, having his very first contest, defied his experience, outpointing William Hughes (Northolt). Mbombo controlled the bout with a long raping (and very accurate) jab. By the second, blood poured from the nose of Hughes, who did well to make it to the final bell.

Albes Krasniqi, returning from injury, had a slightly tougher than expected bout over Sean Earles (Hanwell). Krasniqi, tried his best to spear Earles with the jab from long range, but Earles managed to close the gap and spoil on the inside. Krasniqi’s managed to keep his composure enough to secure a points win.

Richard Worrell, lost a hugely controversial points decision to Vangelis Akubuze (Finchley). The crowd were none too pleased with the verdict, as Worrell had looked at ease throughout the bout, scoring with a higher volume of punches. Akubuze had occasional success with single right hand leads.

Enrico Mullings, deservedly won the ‘Best Boxer of the Night’ award with a sparkling display against All Star’s Arash Haemoradi. Mullings dominated the opening round with a hard crisp jab. A booming right from Mullings dropped Haemoradi in the second. Mullings looked ready to overwhelm his opponent, but Haemoradi made it to the bell. Mullings work-rate tailed off slightly in the last, but by then victory was already assured.