Bout 1

A skills bout that allows kids to gain confidence in their abilities to box pitted young Josh Hanagan from Macclesfield against John Burnett from Tom Lowe ABC.

Both kids gave a good account of themselves; both kids were awarded trophies as there are no winners or losers in a skills bout.

Bout 2

Local lad James Farghaly from Wilmslow took on Callum Reece from Failsworth ABC.

This was an evenly-fought bout as Reece has a good range and worked at arm’s length catching with good punches but Farghaly proved the better boxer on the night  and took a unanimous decision.

bout 3

Macclesfield’s Courtney Hughes faced Ebony Jones from the Heart of Portsmouth Boxing Academy.

Jones had undergone a five-hour journey, having only taken the bout the night before.

She was a strong, come-forward boxer and applied pressure from the first bell.

Hughes worked well off her back foot, scoring with counters but the volume of punches and work rate of Jones caught the judges’ eyes and she was awarded the decision.

Bout 4

Ross Patterson of MBBC faced Adil Zubier from Dynamics ABC in Failsworth.

This was Patterson’s first bout with both boxing well and getting a feel for being in the ring.

An evenly matched fight saw Zubier awarded the final decision.

Bout 5

Tom Munday represented MBBC against another Failsworth boxer, Bradley Clegg.

This was a fast-paced bout with both boxers throwing accurate shots and racking up the scores.

Munday never faltered and proceeded to work in and out throwing combinations some with three-phased attacks and impressed the judges to claim another unanimous win for MBBC.

Bout 6

Lucas Farghaly, James’ older brother, was up next against a strong kid from the well established Sheffield Lane Top club.

Hamsa Archad is a talented southpaw and he more than played his part in a cracking bout.

It could have gone either way but on this occasion it went in favour of Archad but while Farghaly impressed he still has work to do in the gym.

Bout 7

The first senior bout of the evening saw Mat McFann from Macclesfield take on John Spilbury from Burslem ABC.

The pair had meet twice before with McFann being triumphant in the previous contest, but this time Spilbury had come well schooled. He boxed well, using his range to catch McFann as he stepped in to get his combinations in.

He was catching McFann frequently, but the local lad wasn’t put off and pushed forward for the whole bout.

He landed some good shots towards the end but to no avail as Spilbury had done enough early on to take the decision.

Bout  8

This was a much awaited debut bout for 19-year-old Jonny Hough, coming from a family with boxing in the bloodline.

He was up against Saqib Ali from Ardwick ABC, a strong lad who moves well, makes good use of the ring and throws flurries of combinations.

Hough kept pushing forward and closed his opponent down, coming in with  two and three-phase attacks throughout the three rounds.

A action packed crowd pleasing bout went Hough’s way on points.

At this point in proceedings Pete Pealing of sponsors Peaks and Plains Housing Trust presented awards to gold medallist Beth Campbell, who enjoyed success in Sweden, and National junior female champion, Karys Artingstall.

Both of had lost their bouts at short notice ahead of the showcase but both girls received awards from the club for their recent achievements.

Bout 9

Wilmslow lad Arran Murphy took on Jamie Sweeney from the New Era club, Northwich.

Having sparred a couple of weeks previously it was always going to be a tough bout as Sweeney was a good southpaw.

With his tactics established Murphy stuck to his game plan and just did enough to take the decision against a really good opponent.

Bout 10

Next up was Jake Haigh, an open class boxer from Macc, who took on Tom Jones from Leigh ABC.

Having only taken the bout the week before Jones was very strong coming forward and had definitely come to take the bout to Haigh.

Pushing forward with solid punches, this was the wrong strategy for Jones as this suited the tall, rangy Haigh to a tee and he was able to pick him off at will, scoring clean shots before moving and turning his opponent.

Although Haigh’s fitness faltered in the last round he really did give a good display of how to box and use your head to win.

It was a great display and another win for Macclesfield.

Bout 11

Having just been picked to represent England against Sweden Peter Bebbington was all fired up for his opponent, Martin Mongon from Bridgewater ABC.

With former world champion Michael Gomez in his corner it was never going to be a pushover, as Mongon was a very strong, capable boxer.

The pair went toe-to-toe and showed a great display of boxing at close range but every so often Bebbington would take a step back and let off a barrage of punches that connected at range before going to close quarters again.

To the delight of the crowd at Wilmslow Leisure Centre Bebbington was given the final unanimous decision.

Bout 12

John Watson took on the very strong Stockport boxer Steven Ramwell from Bredbury.

Both were experienced fighters but this was Ramwell’s first bout after a three-year lay-off but it didn’t show as he came forward with good combinations.

However, Watson showed his abilities and got off some good straight shots, and after a good return bout for Ramwell, Watson was awarded the decision on a majority.

Bout 13

Connor Morrison took on New Era’s John Harrison who, at 6ft 5in, towered over the Macclesfield boxer.

Morrison was given instructions from his corner to pressure and keep pushing forward, working the body and then finishing some head shots.

He tried his best and, on occasions, got in there but with the range that Harrison had it was difficult and the decision was given to the New Era lad although both boxed extremely well.

Just before the last bout the crowd was introduced to Macclesfield’s professional Liam Hanrahan and his new coach, former English champion Scott Lawton who had shown their support to the event.

Everyone at MBBC wished him the best in his forthcoming bout on March 8 at Bowlers in Manchester.

Bout 14

The final bout of the evening saw Wilmslow’s Josh Spence, boxing for MBBC, take on Donavon Cameron from Gorton School of Excellence.

This was a fantastic end to the show as both lads had a different style to the norm and proceeded to catch each other at will, slipping and moving round the ring.

Spence was catching Donavon with some beautiful  left hooks but after the final bell it appeared they’d not been included as the judges’ decision went in favour of the Gorton boxer, much to the disappointment of the crowd.

Despite this it was a magnificent display of boxing with which to close the 2013 showcase.