It’s been a busy few months for West Kingsdown boxing club as they recently hosted their third show of the season, NextGen2! It was held at their training base, West Kingsdown village hall with 17 evenly matched bouts including seven WKD boxers who show great promise for the future. Riley Philips had his first skills bout along with his club mate, Harry Costin. Coaches were happy with their performances and these boys will be boxing competitively in the not too distance future.
Competitive boxing started with Henry Lingham who was involved in a real thriller against Sonny Martin (St Mary’s Chatham). These two left everything in there and at the end of a close bout, Henry won a split decision to make it two wins in a week for him and left with Best Boxer of the Day Trophy.
Next up for WKD was Freddie Steadman who was too good for his opponent from Hillcrest forcing a standing count on the way to a unanimous points win. Jack Grassby made it three wins in a row for the club with a third round stoppage over his opponent from Uppercutz BC. After the interval Harry Mason and Riverside BC’s, Bobby Taber, served up a bout of real quality. Harry, in his first bout for WKD, had a great last round but it was not enough for the judges, losing a tight decision. These two deservedly won bout of the day!
Finally, Todd Anderson-Jennings was made to go the distance for the first time after three consecutive stoppage wins. He was stepped up in class against the more experienced Billy Gallagher (Strood BC) and forced a standing count in the second round but Gallagher fought back bravely in the third. However, it was Todd who got the decision making it four wins in a row for him. He will be boxing in the semi-final for the Southern Counties championship belt on Saturday 30th April in Maidstone.
The week before the home show, School boy finalist, Denny Moore, was a unanimous points winner in a tough bout in Tilbury and most recently on Saturday 23rd April, Henry Lingham and Freddie Steadman won the Southern Counties schoolboy titles with tough wins over their opponents from Westhill and Aylesham. A great achievement for themselves and the club. They now go on to the National quarter finals in Southampton on May 7th looking to book their places in the semis and finals in Banbury a week later.
The club have announced their final show of the season on Saturday 27th May at the Doubletree Hilton Dartford. This event is a ticket only dinner show with auction, raffle and DJ. The club are hoping to match 12 of their boxers before a well-earned rest for boxers and coaches alike!