In a record-sized show of 19 bouts at the Villa Marina, Manx ABC faced the Home Counties Boxing team for the first time recently. 

Crowd favourite TJ Phair had a tough fight against Owen Aspell, with the Manx boxer taking the win by doctor stoppage. 

Fighting for the second time, the elite lightweights were similarly matched in their fast styles. This led to a lot of scrappy exchanges and clinching as each vied for control. 

By the second round Phair was finding more and more success in landing cleanly, despite Aspell's head movement and powerful hooks thrown in response. 

The start of the third saw a bad cut open up above Aspell's eye after an accidental clash of heads, meaning it to the scorecards and Phair won by unanimous decision.

Tom Murray brought home a comfortable unanimous win over Tam Seddon (from Southport ABC), having controlled the pace of the fight throughout. 

Light heavyweight Murray displayed great agility on his feet as he closed the distance to score points with a five-punch combination in the first. 

In the second he made use of his better reach to keep the shorter Teddon backpedalling, with Teddon looking to get inside as he landed some heavy hooks and uppercuts to the body. 

The third saw Murray continue to chase his opponent around the ring, picking his shots well and evading Teddon's return punches. 

Fellow light heavyweight Michael Osborne fought a strongly-contested battle against Sam Rogerson (Egan's Gym), losing narrowly in a split decision. 

Rogerson had a very stiff jab which did a good job of countering the aggression which Osborne showed from the outset of the fight. 

In round two Osborne dug in hard with an overhand right followed by a hard left to the body, as he continued to fence Rogerson off into the corners. 

The third involved Osborne ducking in to land some hard body shots, forcing Rogerson into the ropes, and the referee having to attend to Rogerson's bloody nose. 

Manx ABC light middleweight Pedro Cardoso had an energetic fight with Jack Carter. The scrappy first round saw the two closely matching the other's workrate. In the second Carter kept teeing off with fast jabs and combos, while Cardoso weaved out of the way. 

At one point the Manx ABC fighter landed home with a six-punch combination, soon answered by more salvos to the head from Carter, causing Cardoso to cover up. 

The last round saw Carter pressuring Cardoso, though he continued to weather the assault well and return with effective counters, even after being given a standing count. Carter was awarded a split decision win. 

Alisha Craine won via unanimous decision over Home Counties' Martine Forbes. Craine kept busy with her jab and hit her mark well with counter-punches. 

The opening of the second round saw both women matching each other as they fired off salvos of punches. The Manx fighter then continued to skilfully keep just out of range and frustrate Forbes by making her miss. 

Forbes fought back throughout the third with good spirit, despite being given a standing count after a sharp straight from Craine landed cleanly on the nose. 

Dominik Stawny was awarded bout of the night for his youth fight with Home Counties' Kascius Marren. Stawny rallied well from attacks by the fast and powerful Marren, landing snapping jabs to keep him at bay. 

Despite being outmatched by the volume of Marren's punches, come the third round Stawny was beginning to take back some control. He landed a good number of clean and unanswered shots at the bell which saw Marren take the unanimous decision. 

Manx ABC youth Milly Dawson brought home a unanimous win over Hannah Jukes. Dawson set the fast tempo from the opening bell, with Jukes reeling into the ropes from a straight right hand. 

Jukes was able to push Dawson back somewhat in the second, and both showed unrelenting effort by meeting each other shot for shot until the end of the third. 

Joe Page was awarded best Manx boxer for his junior bout with Sahel Turkmani. Page demonstrated accuracy from the inside and outside, and used his fluid footwork to prevent Turkmani from finding his rhythm. 

The second saw Page put Turkmani on the ropes on two occasions, although the Home Counties boxer began to reclaim momentum by the third. The local boxer put on a strong, athletic performance, but Turkmani ultimately took the split decision win. 

Amy Haywood got a decision victory over fellow schools boxer Amy Jackson. The bout was fast-paced at the beginning, with both exchanging equal flurries of shots. 

Haywood even threw a triple of straights in quick succession at one point and continued to do well with her one-twos throughout the fight. 

The other Manx ABC boxers who competed were Joe Faragher, Bailey Spencer, Leo Creer, Josh Duggan, Harley Suwinski, Drew Suwinski and Jack Moore, Tommy Handley and Erin Johnson, the latter three young boxers making their debuts. 

The final score was 9-3 to the Home Counties. 

PAUL HARDMAN