Saturday, March 26 saw Falmouth and Penryn Amateur Boxing Club take two boxers to compete for the first time this year at the Blue Flames ABC show in Taunton, Somerset.

Representing Falmouth and Penryn were 14-year-old Harry Morris boxing in the 62kg junior category and senior Kaidan Symons, 21 competing at 82kg.

Morris was up first in a junior bout of three, two-minute rounds against local fighter Jacob Ditchfield of Blue Flames.

Having learnt a tough lesson from his last outing in November when he lost a tight decision to another home club boxer, Morris wasted no time in asserting his dominance this time from the first round.

From his southpaw stance, Morris fired off powerful right-hand jabs following up with snappy combinations that jarred the head of fellow left-handed fighter Ditchfield.

Both boxers traded shots simultaneously in a furious flurry halfway through the first round with Morris gaining the upper hand, pushing the local boxer to the ropes, and causing a slight cut on Ditchfield which resulted in the Blue Flames boxer having to take a standing count.

Spurred on by the cut on his cheek a brave Ditchfield charged at Morris swinging powerful shots once the action resumed. Morris showed maturity beyond his years and remained composed, blocking most of what was coming his way and firing off powerful counter punches.

The pace slowed in the second round which enabled Morris to showcase more of his accurate and hard-hitting jabs and his well-timed straight left-hand follow-ups, frequently causing his opponent to cover up.

After putting on a great display of varied shots to the head and body the referee decided he had seen enough and stopped the contest just after the one-minute mark of the second round.

After a disappointing result in his last contest, this well-deserved stoppage win is a great result for Morris who is improving with every appearance.

Next up for Falmouth and Penryn was the club’s Light Heavyweight hope Kaidan Symons who was participating in his first contest since winning gold at the Riviera Boxcup over six months ago.

Symons’s opponent was the experienced Lukasz Kucharski from Grey Ranks ABC in Weymouth, Dorset.

The taller fighter Symons used his long range to pick off his stockier opponent with sharp left-handed jabs and maintained fast footwork to avoid being caught by Kucharski’s big left hook attacks.

The contest heated up into a great clash of styles in the second as the Dorset boxer utilised fantastic head and upper body movement combined with fast hand speed to close the gap between himself and Symons, who boxed on the counter and caught the charging Kucharski with perfectly timed right uppercuts throughout the second round.

The round was highly competitive with the better inside work being done by the Grey Ranks boxer and the straight punching from distance being dominated by Symons, the aggression shown from Kucharski probably edging the round in his favour.

The third and final round saw the boxers display a great variety of both head and body combinations and nonstop action throughout, with both competitors showing a huge amount of determination and fitness to put on a highly entertaining and close contest.

Kucharski did manage to get through with a few left hooks but in no way dominated the round, Symons stuck to his gameplan and put up a terrific boxing display considering he had half the experience of the Grey Ranks fighter and has been out of the ring since last August.

Unfortunately for the Falmouth and Penryn boxer, the three scoring judges gave the points decision to Kucharski. Many ringside thought Symons had done enough, and coach Danny Coles is working on organising a rematch of the bout for the upcoming Falmouth and Penryn ABC home show at the Dracaena Centre in Falmouth on April 30.