Top wins on a top show for Top Yard

Mustafa Rafiq stopped his opponent in the second round of bout eight, which was sponsored by Kevin Sanders Promotions.

There were 12 well-matched bouts for a sell-out crowd of 350 to savour and the home supporters cheered five of their six boxers to victory.

And the club saved their best until last with home favourite Fazaan Khalid (16) winning the fight of the night on points against Louis Thomas from the Norseman Boxing Club to make it six wins out of six.

Khalid put the recent disappointment of having to pull out of the semi-finals of the National Development Championships through injury behind him, to turn on the style for his home fans.

Amaan Nadeem gets stuck in against Keion Woulfe.

He was up against the Home Counties champion and both boxers showed great composure, skill and ringcraft plus a high workrate. However, the cleaner shots from Fazaan and a big final round saw him get the verdict.

Zain Shiraz (16) beat Toby Bassett from Northampton ABC to win the Boxer of the Night prize.

Shiraz is stylistically the most eye-catching boxer at the club and produced a great selection of shots on his way to an easy points win. He kept his opponent at range leading with long jabs and long hooks and traded well in exchanges.

Kristoph Hovarth (15), Top Yard’s young heavyweight, was pipped on points by David Pickacu from Bell Green ABC in his first ever contest.

Fighter of the night, sponsored by Quality Fruit & Veg Ltd, was Zain Shiraz.

Both boxers gave it their all and landed hard shots. The first two rounds were pretty even with a lot of grappling from the big men.

Hovarth began to tire in the final round and his opponent’s higher workrate saw him nick a tight decision. A rematch is certainly on the horizon.

In a junior contest Junayd Ali (15) stopped Habeeb Hussain from Neechells Green ABC in the third round to earn his first win.

Ali boxed very smartly for two rounds and then forced the referee to step in when upping the tempo against a tiring opponent in the last round.

Fight of the night featured Fazaan Khalid and Louis Thomas and was sponsored by Specialist Auto Services.

Amaan Nadeem (15) was another junior winner for Top Yard. He won unanimously on points against Keion Woulfe from Northampton ABC after a terrific toe-to-toe scrap.

In another crowd-pleasing punch-up Mustafa Rafiq (15) made it three junior wins out of three for the host club.

He boxed Kieren Keen from Thetford ABC and after struggling with his range in the first round, he got it together well in the second to stop his man.

He was more aggressive and a vicious right-hand by Mustafa saw Keen buckle. He followed up with an onslaught of punches and Keen’s corner threw in the towel. Mustafa has now won four out of five.

Fazan Hussain (10), Saif Ali (11) and Daniyaal Hussain (12) opened the show with skills bouts.