White Collar Boxing News:

 




 
Eager followers of ‘White Collar Boxing’ enjoyed a real treat recently as a capacity crowd turned up at the Withybush Arena for the third show organised by Chris and Wayne O’Sullivan, supported by other members of their family, alongside Shane Earp from Carmarthenshire who has had experience of similar events there.
 
Almost 700 spectators certainly weren’t disappointed either because they cheered on the boxers in 11 bouts where there was action aplenty along with a real feeling of camaraderie amongst the boxers.
 

Great care taken of participants beforehand

 
All the participants had to attend a seven week ‘boot camp’ of training sessions where they were taught the basic skills, had sparring aplenty and regular fitness tests prior to a final check-up from a doctor on the night of the show.
 
Care is also taken to carefully match up the boxers, most of who were experiencing their first time in for real in a ring, with consideration given in terms of their being similar builds, similar weight and experience – and the success of this process can be gauged from the fact that the first ten bouts all went the distance of three two-minute rounds and a decision was made by officials.
 

Rob receives ‘Boxer of the Evening’ award . . .

 
The only exception was the final contest of the evening, a heavyweight bout where honours were even after two rounds between Lee Roche and Rob Jones but then the latter landed a powerful right hook that clearly shock his opponent and referee Woodie Lewis stepped in to stop the contest.
 
It was understandably disappointing for Roche, who had missed the first show with a torn bicep and then helped out behind the scenes in the second, whilst Rob Jones received a double delight because as well as winning he also received the award of best boxer of the evening!
 

. . . And Best Bout goes to Luke and Rhys as Ladies put on three great bouts!

 
The best bout of the evening award was given to Rhys Vaughan (Croesgoch) and Luke Harding (Fishguard), who won this cracking contest  by a unanimous verdict but was very close as they both gave 100% and both had times when they looked on top.
 
There were also three bouts between women, the first a really tough clash between Emily Bowen and Morgan Jones who are both keen fitness ladies and it was Emily who eased home as she showed her boxing skills.
 
Then Carys James took on Kara Pugh in another bout thoroughly enjoyed by the enthusiastic crowd before Carys was given a unanimous verdict – and Charlotte Neill from Haverfordwest gained the same verdict over Grace Jones, who hails from Carmarthen, to end the first half of the programme with a very high standard.
 

Action aplenty as Father and son feature

 
The evening opened in style as Dylan Hannaford beat Billy Wright and such was the closeness of the contest between Dean Richards and Jay Evans that a draw was declared by MC Steve Philpott after the judges couldn’t separate the eager pair before Kieran Griffiths (Goodwick) enjoyed a unanimous decision against Alan Llywelyn (Haverfordwest).
 
The son and father duo of Liam and Marc Barber (Letterston) also featured after the break and Liam gained a unanimous verdict over Josh Campbell (Haverfordwest) as both had good periods before Barber junior finished the stronger.
 
Marc, who is well-known in equine circles rather than a boxing ring, had lost narrowly to Ade Smith in a previous show and wanted another bout, this time as he took on another fireman in Phil Irving. The action was fast and furious as Phil boxed on the front foot but it was Marc who boxed really well and gave his opponent two standing counts before winning on points.
 
Undoubtedly one of the best bouts of the evening saw Jordan James and Dan Bryce push for the top contest award before just missing out – and it was Bryce who won on a split decision to huge applause from an appreciative crowd who went home happy with what they enjoyed – real action from 22 eager boxers who will have learned a great deal about themselves in an evening they are never likely to forget.