Top Yard put on another top show

Fight fans certainly got value for money at Sunday afternoon’s Top Yard School of Boxing show.
Steve Winters of Top Yard in action against Abbas Khan. Pictures: David LowndesSteve Winters of Top Yard in action against Abbas Khan. Pictures: David Lowndes
Steve Winters of Top Yard in action against Abbas Khan. Pictures: David Lowndes

The city club put on 18 bouts at Lifestyle Fitness on the Peterborough Regional College complex and 17 of them involved local boxers.

Junayd Ali was first to taste success for the host club. He came up against James Pullen (Far Cotton Boys) and caught him throughout with sharp combinations to earn a comfortable points win and the Children of Adam Best Boxer trophy.

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Hasnain Ahmed continued the Top Yard winning streak when he took on Jack Lovesey (New Saints).

Saif Ali (right) of Top Yard  fought Paddy Cash.Saif Ali (right) of Top Yard  fought Paddy Cash.
Saif Ali (right) of Top Yard fought Paddy Cash.

Ahmed opened up with a great first round landing some big shots and using his movement well to get out of trouble. Lovesey came back into it in the second but Ahmed finished the stronger of the two to nick a points win.

Top Yard’s third win came from new recruit Alex Tee, who recently joined them from Whittlesey ABC.

He was up against D. Mallereau (Blackbird Leys) and was keen to make a good impression. And he did just that, using his height well to keep his opponent at arm’s length and landing tasty straight shots to win on points.

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Steve Winters (13) is another boxer to have recently joined Top Yard and he had his first contest for the club against Abbas Khan (Notts City ABC).

Whittlesey ABC fighter  Josh Moulding (right) beat Ethan Buckley.Whittlesey ABC fighter  Josh Moulding (right) beat Ethan Buckley.
Whittlesey ABC fighter Josh Moulding (right) beat Ethan Buckley.

It was Winters’ first fight for a year and he was looking to shake off some ring rust. He boxed well against in-form Khan and the two of them turned in a cracking contest that was voted the Insure 4 Sure Fight of the Night.

Khan was a slick operator and took a close points verdict after dominating the last round with a few cleaner shots.

Mustafa Rafiq, Saif Ali (13), Hasnain Hussain (16) and Raja Malak were four other Top Yard fighters beaten on points.

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Rafiq (Top Yard) was up against Harry Pullen (Far Cotton), the most experienced boxer on the show, and pushed him all the way. But Pullen’s experience saw him through.

Presley Riley (right) of Whittlesey ABC beat Logan Lannan.Presley Riley (right) of Whittlesey ABC beat Logan Lannan.
Presley Riley (right) of Whittlesey ABC beat Logan Lannan.

Heavyweight Malak was involved in another great scrap with Baily Radford (New Saints). It was a very entertaining bout with both boxers connecting with heavy shots.

Ali fought Paddy Cash (Westside ABC) and it was his second bout in 18 hours. He boxed the night before in Billeciray in the Under 40kg semi finals of the Eastern Counties National Schoolboy Championships and won through to the regional finals to be held in Norwich on Saturday.

The bout was very competitive throughout but eventually Saif’s tiredness from the night before caught up with him and Cash nicked a close decision.

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Hussain boxed George Franklin (Westside ABC) in another well-matched bout but Franklin won by just doing that bit extra each round.

Top Yard's Mustafa Saliym (left) took part in a skills bout with Ezah Gaston.Top Yard's Mustafa Saliym (left) took part in a skills bout with Ezah Gaston.
Top Yard's Mustafa Saliym (left) took part in a skills bout with Ezah Gaston.

Whittlesey ABC had two fighters on the bill and both enjoyed points wins.

Josh Moulding took on tough lad Ethan Buckley from Ernie’s Boxing Club in Chatteris in his first competive bout and won on a split decision while Presley Riley won all three rounds against Logan Lannan from Boston Town.

It wasn’t such a good night for Peterborough Police ABC as Jaansher Raja, Danny Meins and Brian Lawless all went down on points to respective opponents A. Blackbird (Kiel Merrit), Hareem Ali (Boston ABC) and Shaun Simpson (March ABC).

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The show kicked off with four skills bouts in which the Top Yard quartet of Mustafa Saliym (11), Mohammed Haroon (12), Dawud Ahmed (12) and Junaid Farooq (14) all caught the eye with their excellent technique and composure.