But with one of the bouts having been between two visitors, Pisces could really have laid claim to overall honours had they won the final contest between home favourite Jamie Manners and Liam Horgan.
With the Mayfair venue holding a bigger crowd than usual, but only fitting in the club’s smaller 17′ 6 in ring, few of the bouts were anything less than full on battles. Manners, however, was, in the opening round, more circumspect than usual, scoring well as he got in and out in a even welterweight encounter.
But the strong Horgan eventually drew him into a battle as his rushed attacks forced the Jersey boy back. Blood once again flowed in the final round as Manners and Horgan staged a tremendous finish, but it was the visitor who earned a unanimous decision.
Two successive home victories had enabled the close finish, Pisces middleweight Joe Muscat putting on a solid show to record the evening’s only knockout in the second round against Joe Rowler. Muscat used his longer reach to good effect, but it was punishing body shots that eventually felled the visitor.
After five bouts the visitors led 4-1, but Leonis’ middleweight Danny Kennedy turned the tide in what was the battle of the night against the vastly experienced Martin Robins. Many of the crowd thought the visitor had scored heavily at close quarters during the four round epic and were surprised at the majority verdict going to the home man. But both lads deserve the highest praise for their efforts and it would certainly be an excellent rematch.
The only other stoppage of the night came when the furious attacks of Alim Aunka wore down Pisces middleweight Shaun Hogan at the end of the second round. The visitor drove the powerful Hogan into corners and his two-handed onslaughts, if only barely controlled, certainly earned two standing eight counts before referee Richard Langlois wisely stopped the contest.
The opening half of the evening, with one exception, went the way of the Police Select. In the two junior contests visitor Jay Ede thoroughly deserved his unanimous points victory over the taller Jonny Tipping who had made such a good impression on his debut last time out. But the Jersey 14-year-old will undoubtedly have learned much from these three rounds against a compact, quick and composed opponent.
The only Jersey success in the early bouts came from Leonis junior Tom Frame in an excellent contest with Aaron Power. The Jersey lad’s footwork was a joy to behold and it’s easy to see why coach Dave Thompson regards him so highly, but credit Power, too, for his part. Frame won a majority verdict and is certainly one to look out for.
A late standing eight count in the final round probably denied Pisces lightweight Ryan Nichol a victory over Sardeef Saruduri after the pair had gone toe-to-toe in a real tear-up. Both had forced standing eight counts in round one but Nichol, returning to box from Newcastle, had looked slightly the more accurate and, with Saruduri deducted a point for continually turning his back in the third, a home victory looked on the cards. But a late charge forced a standing eight count and Saruduri got a majority decision.
In the night’s other bout Toseef Hanif won a points decision over fellow Police Select man Jay Hannah, who represented Pisces.
Official in charge: Brian Follain. Medical officer: Dr Carl Clinton. MC: Michael Stephenson. Referees: Richard Langlois and Mike Sullivan. Trophies presented in memory of Colin Welsh.
