New Horizon Boxing Club staged its second show at the Palace Hotel in Douglas recently.   

The Douglas club were original set to take on a Cheshire Select, but a number of drop pouts because of illness and injury led to some late replacements from Cardiff, Walsall and Lancashire.  

The packed-out Cushag Suite hosted nine highly competitive bouts where seven locals featured.  

Standout performances were wins for Sonny Finch and Mickey Bucknall. Finch gave weight away to Cardiff’s Sidnee Ingram-Richardson (Caerau Ely) but the height and reach advantage were firmly with the Manx boxer who used them to good effect to control the distance well and keep his man at arm’s length in the first round.   

Sonny mixed his punches up well, switching from head and body and limited the Welsh lad by using good footwork to move in and out of range to avoid any counter punches.  

In the second round Finch upped the pace and put everything into his punches as he drove the Welsh fighter back to the ropes where he landed some big right hands. Ingram-Richardson had some success towards the end as Finch showed signs of tiring.   

In the third and final round the Cardiff lad gave it his all and had Finch on the backfoot, but it was too little too late as the judges awarded Sonny the unanimous decision. He also picked up best New Horizon boxer of the night award.  

Bucknall boxed for the second time in two weeks, following a skills bout in Northwich the previous week. But this was his first competitive bout and the Onchan schoolboy wasted no time in taking the fight to Tom Fish (New Era), establishing a strong jab from the start. 

He was able to pick his punches to the head of the Cheshire lad. Fish had some success with his right hand on occasions, but it was Bucknall’s higher work rate that gave him the round.  

In the second, Mickey started brightly and soon had his man on the back foot, the jab working well and the right-handers taking a toll, one landing flush and dislodging Fish’s head guard. The referee intervened to take Fish back to the corner to get it fixed and some much-needed respite.  

Buoyed by that success, Mickey pressed home his advantage. A tiring Fish found himself on the ropes when the referee stepped in to give the first standing count of the bout.  

The visiting boxer reacted well and fought back as he took the fight to the Manx lad, but this was short-lived and another unanswered flurry from Bucknall led to another standing count. Before the action could continue, the bell rang to save Fish any more punishment as Bucknall’s hand was raised for another unanimous decision.   

Two all-action ding-dong senior contests had the Palace crowd on their feet. In a senior light-welterweight contest, Manx debutant Charlie Coleman fought big-hitting Preston boxer Reece McKenna.   

In a whirlwind start Coleman was first to land anything of note with an overhand right, only for McKenna to land a big left hook as the two traded punches to the bell.  

The second round mirrored the first with both lads swapping leather with little regard for defence - it was just a matter of time before someone landed that big punch. To the disappointment of the home crowd it was McKenna who, under pressure himself, landed that big punch that put Coleman flat on his back.  

He rose quickly but his inexperience showed as he staggered to the nearest corner and, as the ref gave a standing count, he didn’t show signs of recovery and was counted out.  

The second half of this report will feature in Thursday’s Manx Independent. 

JOHN CAIN