This Is Guernsey

By Rob Batiste

BRADLEY WATSON responded to top-of-the bill responsibility at St Pierre Park Hotel with a convincing and stylish win.

The local flyweight with ambitions of turning professional one day, outpointed the talented Raza Hamza from the North West Region Select squad and it was a performance which underlined the solid improvement in his technique and whole approach to fights.

There will always be brashness with Watson but his respect for the opponent has grown and with it he is a more guarded fighter himself.

Hamza was no pushover and made Watson work hard, but there never seemed any prospect of the local lad not getting the verdict and when it came it was a unanimous one.

The visitors won the 11-bout Guernsey Dinner Boxing Club Show by seven bouts to four, but there was plenty of promise in the performance of the local lads, even in defeat.

Gage Demore was excellent again in beating Jonny Brown, using his height and reach advantage against a squat but tough opponent.

Demore won all three rounds.

But the performance of the night came from 15-year-old debutant Ben O’Regan, younger brother of Vale Rec footballer Antony.

Boxing at featherweright over three two-minute rounds, he looked the novice he is over the first part of the opening round in which Ashley Dewsnap forced two standing counts from the local boy.

Referee George Jennings had to take O’Regan to one side, look him in the eyes and, with hands on each of his shoulders, ask: ‘Are you all right?’.

It was good refereering.

O’Regan nodded and, let off the hook, he fought his way back into the bout in superb fashion.

Having survived the first he dominated the second round and towards the end of the two minutes forced a standing count himself.

Dewsnap was quickly running out of steam and, in the final round, took another standing count as O’Regan, from his slightly crouched style, finished the stronger.

Jennings let Dewsnap continue, but had there been more than 10sec. remaining it is doubtful if the English lad would have stayed on his feet, as he was again in trouble as the bell rung.

O’Regan, who has been in training only four or five months, admitted to being nervous and thought he had had it.

‘The hits were harder than I thought they would be.

‘I thought I’d be counted out the second time.’

Graham Guilbert, his coach, thought it was a terrific effort from the youngster, who grew in condidence throughout.

‘He is very quiet, but he’s got a lot of aggression, although it takes a while to get it out of him.

‘He is very clever for a novice boxer.’

It was not such good news for another debutant, Sam Bishop.

Up against Steve ‘KO’ Kremner, the local welterweight was stopped in the second having taken two standing counts prior to the last one, which spelled the end for him.

Bishop showed promise, though, against a tough southpaw who the last time he visited the island suffered bad teeth damage in a scrap with Alderney’s talented Joel Mitten.

At the top of the night, Guernsey schoolboys Damon Albin and Jack Gilvear again showed that even in defeat they have a lot of promise.

Both lads set up nicely and have all the basic skills to be good and successful boxers. Unfortunately for them on this occasion, their opponents, Daniel Murray and Adam Ridge were just that bit better.

Gilvear is particularly strong and pugnacious and never stopped coming forward, but Ridge counter-attacked superbly and his combination work was as impressive as anything seen later from the senior lads.

Daniel Kirk and Stuart Hamon fought bravely but lost their light-middlewright and welterweight bouts respectively.

Kirk came out blazing and looking for a quick fix, only to find Dave Harvey had too much nous for him as well as stamina.

Long before the end, Kirk was exhausted and he needs to learn to pace himself. There is, though, promise there.

Alderney provided three lads to bolster the local team and although Billy Le Pouillon and Saul Woodruff lost exciting bruising encounters, Dave Chadney edged out Corey Lowe in the penultimate bout of the night.

Wooruff’s fight was a particularly eventful one which ended somewhat tamely.

Both boxers took standing counts in the opening two rounds which, at times, was an extraordinary slug-fest with the two standing to-to-toe and giving it everything.

Woodruff even survived a third standing out at the end of the second and was up for emerging for the third.

But, belatedly, officials realised that in junior bouts a third count means an automatic end, and the contest was stopped.Dinner Boxing at St Pierre Park: North West Region Select Side win seven bouts to four

Article posted on 30th November, 2009 - 2.29pm