Top Yard boxers were back with a bang in the club’s first show for 18 months

The packed-out crowd were treated to 16 fights with five skills bouts followed by 11 main bouts, eight of which were won by fighters from the city-based club.

Professional boxer and former Olympian Qais Ashfaq spent the weekend at the Topyard Club and presented the trophies.

It was a fantastic start to the show with younger city-based Top Yard boxers having their first skills bouts.

Beanie-Joe Foster (10), Lewis Burton (10), John Smith (12), Jacob Hussain (10) and Adam Javed (12) all show cased their skills and showed plenty of talent. Skills bouts are specifically for the development of young boxers in preparation for competitive bouts.

Santino Harris (13) set the tone for the main bouts by stopping his opponent Liam Wells from Braunstone Golden Gloves in a 40kg contest. Santino was strong and ruthless giving his opponent two counts in the second round. Santino impressed and took the junior boxer of the night award from sponsors ‘Superchick’.

Christopher Foster (13) also at 40kg took on Kyle Corcoran from New Kines Boxing, but just fell short against a tough well-schooled fighter.

Top Yard’s Eastern Counties Champion, Aamir Shirazi (14) took on Adam Morris from Rabc Boxing club in a 39kg contest. Morris was a taller boy with almost a one year age advantage, but he couldn’t match the skill and experience of Shirazi who won unanimously.

The third win for Top Yard came from Dawud Ahmed (14) who faced Faheem Khan from Wellington Boxing Academy in a 46kg bout. This was a good three round contest, but Dawud secured the win with a standing eight count.

Subhaan Mohammad (16), boxing in his first contest at 55kg, was outstanding against Evan Ferguson from Wellington Boxing Club. Mohammad put on the pressure in all three rounds and was relentless in his attack to win unanimously and take the best ‘Superchick’ fight of the night.

Mohammed Moosa-Ali (17), also in his first contest at 57kg, claimed victory with an impressive performance in a fast-paced fight. Both boxers were explosive and provided non-stop action. Moosa-Ali is definitely one to look out for after a performance you would have expected from a more experienced fighter.

Freddy Brooks (16) boxed Jordan Spencer from Bulkington Boxing Club. This was a tough competitive bout at 64kg with Freddy just missing out by the narrowest of margins.

The first of the senior bouts saw Sahil Malak take on Dale Wilson at 82kg. Malak’s gameplan was to land his shots and move against a stronger-looking fighter. Malak followed instructions from his corner and secured another fantastic win to take the senior ‘Superchick’ boxer award.

Maidi Askari, another debutant fighter at 65kg, took on Dovidas Viatkus from Fenland Sparta. After a close first round, Askari found his range landing some heavy shots to the head and body giving Viatkus a standing eight count in the third and winning emphatically.

Junaid Ali (64kg) in his first senior bout without having to wear a headguard was unfazed. Boxing Harry Edeecumbe from City of Hull ABC, Ali worked on his opponent from all angles with some great head and body shots and forced a standing eight count. This was a solid performance from Ali to pick up an impressive win.

The final fight of the night was a real crowd pleaser at 75kg. Shazad Aslam and Darylon David-Bennett from the well-schooled Dale youth ABC went toe-to-toe. Both showed their skill and ability in a heavy hitting fight. The decision could have gone either with Aslam just missing out on a split decision.