Two Tavistock boxers travelled to Southampton to face opposition from the local club Southampton Amateur Boxing Club, writes Tony Fennell.

The two asked for by Southampton were Beau Harding and Daniil Maidanskyi. Tavistock were happy to supply opposition!

Being the lighter man, Beau was the first to face his opponent, Harry Evans from the host club. Evans presented as slightly taller than Beau and boxed from an orthodox – that is right-handed – stance. With both boxers having similar records there was no obvious advantage in experience.

In a tentative first round both boxers were trying to find their distance. Beau displayed good footwork and some very good upper-body movement to evade Evans’s punches. A slip by Beau after 20 seconds saw an unforced downing but it was a genuine slip and the referee dismissed it as such.

Beau showed some good opening shots but Evans proved just as evasive. When in clinches, Beau showed better control and worked effectively inside.

Round Two started in a similar vein. At 40 seconds into the round – with Evans advancing – Beau threw a very good jab which landed cleanly and scored a good point. This was followed by a good cross which caught Evans full in the face. Evans was on the back foot for much of the remainder of the second round.

At the start of round three, following instruction from his corner, Beau started strongly. The increase in pace found Evans off-guard and he took several good blows, culminating in a telling blow to the face after a minute where the referee gave Evans a standing eight-count.

On recommencing, Beau found more punches from his armoury and had Evans in trouble again, this time another eight-count was accompanied by the towel being presented by the Southampton coach.

Beau’s undoubted strength was his superior fitness and undoubtedly better boxing skills. Beau continues his winning streak with a fourth win in succession.

Daniil Maidanskyi was next in the ring for Tavistock and was presented with tough, and strongly supported, opposition from the local club in the form of Ellis Harkins. This was a test for Danny after the previous week’s narrow defeat.

The first round started well with both boxers a little cautious and not much to choose between them, although Danny showed a greater awareness than his previous foray into the ring with some effective punching and, once again, good footwork preventing many opposition attacking moves.

Round two saw Harkins change stance to southpaw and a good left caught Danny but was shrugged off.

Danny was showing some good punches and caught his opponent with a very good combination halfway through the round.

The majority of the work was carried out by the opposition, Danny’s footwork defeated most of the efforts by Harkins, and, to his credi,t Danny’s efforts saw many of Harkin’s attacks fail. Danny was taking some punches but they were mostly ineffective, lacking in power and largely inaccurate.

Round three saw a continuance of the previous format; Danny did inject some vigour at intervals throughout the round but Harkins had the support of the local crowd and even punches that missed were still noisily supported! At intervals Danny showed some excellent footwork but perhaps spent too much time going backward.

The judges’ decision was a points win for the local boxer, Ellis Harkins.

Danny continues to improve, so back to the gym and more training!