TWO Falmouth and Penryn boxers won Western Counties Challenge Belts at the 24-bout event held at the Dracaena Centre on Saturday.

First of the Falmouth and Penryn boxers to fight for a Western Counties Challenge Belt was Brett Ralph.

He faced Torbay’s Jake Madelin, defending his Light Heavyweight title for the second time, aiming to win the belt outright.

The bout started at a cracking pace, with both men trading hard blows in the centre of the ring.

Ralph landed a cracking left hook about 20 seconds in, which sent Madelin straight to the canvass, leaving the crowd thinking it was all over. The Torbay man beat the count, however, only to come straight back at Ralph, landing a strong right hand which dropped the Falmouth boxer. Ralph beat the count, only to face an onslaught from the Torbay man, who sensed victory was within his grasp.

A further count for the Falmouth man ensued as Madelin piled on the pressure and forced a couple of strong punches through Brett’s tight defence, once again dropping him to the canvass. Ralph again beat the count, but was clearly rocked by the big punches and a tense final thirty seconds ensued as he eluded the big punches coming from Madelin, in order to reach the break at the end of round one.

Round two began where round one had left off, with Madelin looking for a quick finish. Ralph kept his cool and was quick to exploit an opening following a barrage of punches from Madelin. He again landed a solid left hook, which dropped Madelin, only to see the Torbay man again beat the count. This time there was to be no let off.

Ralph pressed forwards, being careful not to leave himself open to anything, piling on the pressure, scoring with strong combinations to the head and body of his opponent, before landing another left hook which floored Madelin.

The Torbay man again beat the count, but the referee judged he had had enough and guided him to his corner, to roars from the crowd, who were by now all on their feet in appreciation of both men’s efforts. A better two rounds unlikely to be seen for some time!

In a final gesture of sportsmanship, Madelin personally presented the Western Counties Light Heavyweight Title belt to Brett Ralph, the new champion.

The final contest of the night was to decide the Western Counties Superheavyweight Challenge Belt title, between holder Bristol Empire’s Lydell Monfries and challenger Falmouth and Penryn’s Chris Sloggett.

Sloggett used his height and reach advantage to score early on, but Monfries worked his way inside the reach of the Falmouth man to disrupt his efforts to land strong clean shots and to score with his own blows.

Neither man was prepared to give and three rounds of toe-to-toe action followed, with very little to choose between them. The early work from Sloggett paid off, with him taking a well earned split decision to the delight of the home fans, who, once again, appreciated both men’s efforts.

Earlier in the evening, the first of the eight local lads in action was Keane Coggin, who faced Sydenham’s Tommy Hepburn in a skills contest.

The taller Hepburn used his height to press Keane from the off, but the Falmouth and Penryn lad kept his cool, coming back as the bout progressed, to the delight of the home fans, leaving the ring with honours even between the boys.

Reuben Sewell impressed in his skills bout against Torbay’s Sonny Baker, showing impressive footwork and ever growing confidence as he moved around his opponent, scoring with a good range of shots, whilst keeping out of trouble.

Lewis Rollason faced Torrington’s Nathan Board, determined to overturn a previous loss to the visiting boxer.

Rollason looked strong in the opening round, scoring well, while making Board miss with good body movement. Board came back in round two, pressing Rollason hard, leaving the contest level going into round three.

Both boxers knew the contest depended on the final round, coming out of their corners hard at each other. Lewis’ gymwork paid off as the round progressed, with his strength and endurance showing as the round progressed, scoring with good body shots, to take the judges decision at the final bell.

Kaiden Symons used his height and strong punching power to overcome Frome’s Dyson Langellier, keeping himself at distance, whilst piling pressure on his opponent throughout their contest, to earn a unanimous points victory.

Senior Callum Powell made his debut following the interval against Torbay’s Marcus Trott. The bout started at a cracking pace, with both men determined not to give ground. Powell used his reach advantage to land good long range scoring blows, whilst Trott pressed hard to catch Powell with strong body blows whenever he got under his lead.

he contest was close throughout the three rounds, but the footwork and range of shots thrown by the Falmouth and Penryn boxer clearly caught the judges eyes, with Powell taking the verdict by split decision. A superb debut.

Team mate Joe True started strongly against Barton Hill’s Michael Morgan, but eased off the pressure a little too much in the second and third rounds, allowing Morgan to recover well and pick up a split decision at the final bell.

The night was a fantastic advert for Cornish boxing, with a great atmosphere provided by the full house of supporters, coupled with tremendous displays of skill, grit and sportsmanship from all of the boxers.

Thanks must go to the boxers and coaching staff of all clubs present, the England Boxing officials, M/C Jamie Johnson, DJ Steve Sykes, Falmouth School, for providing chairs to seat the full house, W.C Rowe, for providing pasties to feed the boxers, our generous sponsors, who provided the funds to hold the tournament, including A&P, Stout Security, TTS Engineering, Cargo Clothing.com, Wooden Hand Brewery, Bobby’s Bar, Armada, Global switchgear, The Famous Barrel pub, Cluster Support team, Bar Stores, MacSalvors, Relay engineering, Shield environmental services, Mike McGinn, all who donated raffle prizes, those who volunteered to help on the night in the kitchen,raffle, bar and door and the staff of the Dracena Centre. Thanks also to Terry Thomas (Gloves Management), Wayne Lewis Photography, Ruth, Kelly and Chloe for ring services and of course those who supported the boxers and club, making the night the great social occasion it was.

If you are interested in boxing, to keep fit, or to compete, Falmouth and Penryn ABC meet on Tuesdays7.30 to 9pm and Wednesdays 6 to 7pm (juniors) at the Dracena Centre, Falmouth. All ages from 10 upwards and all levels of experience are welcome to join us. Find us on Facebook for more information.

Results

Juniors/youth:

Piran Richards (Truro) vs Oliver Morgan (St Austell) skills

McKenzie Reeve (Kings) vs Jed Baker (Torbay) skills

Keane Coggin (Falmouth & Penryn) vs Tommy Hepburn (Sydenham) skills

Reuben Sewell (Falmouth and Penryn) vs Sonny Baker (Torbay) skills

Ned Pefiter (Torrington) bt Guy Newcombe (Poole) points

Louis Baker (Torbay) bt Cameron Reeve (Kings) RSC 3

Levi Sherred (Frome) bt David Goodwin (Sydenham) RSC 1

Joshua Tome De Brito (Wessex) bt Brody Woodman (Poole) points

Sonny Grady (Barton Hill) bt Sam McKeowen (Moneyfields) split decision

Jack Jones (Mayflower) bt Louie Travers (Wessex) points

Lewis Rollason (Falmouth & Penryn) bt Nathan Board (Torrington) split decision

Nile Thomas (Barton Hill) bt Harley McPherson (Moneyfields) split decision

Kaiden Symons (Falmouth & Penryn) bt Dyson Langellier (Frome) points

James Sharp (Barton Hill) bt Jay Cooper (Moneyfields) split decision

Seniors:-

Callum Powell (Famouth & Penryn) bt Marcus Trott (Torbay) split decision

Tom Corey (Bideford) bt Matt Peters (St Just) points

Joshua Fry (Poole) bt Ricardo Moule (Sydenham) points

Michael Morgan (Barton Hill) bt Joe True (Falmouth & Penryn) split decision

Ross Jackson (Truro) bt Paval Kamjonka (Torbay) points

Dean Ayling (Torrington) bt Nathan Chillingworth (Sydenham) Points

Jamie Freeman (Torbay) bt George Scutt (Sydenham) split decision

Brett Ralph (Falmouth & Penryn) bt Jake Madelin (Torbay) RSC 2 (Western Counties Light Heavyweight Challenge Belt)

Lewis Scutt (Sydenham) bt James Thompson (Torbay) RSC 2

Chris Sloggett Falmouth & Penryn) bt Lydell Monfries (Empire) split decision (Western Counties Super Heavyweight Challenge Belt)