New Horizon Boxing Club staged its second show at the Palace Hotel, Douglas recently.
The Manx club was originally set to take on a Cheshire select, but several pullouts through illness and injury led to late replacements from Cardiff, Walsall and Lancashire.
Home light-heavyweight Matty Kinvig was in the top of the bill match against Mathew Griffiths (New Era) who established his jab and kept the shorter Kinvig at range for most of the round. Griffiths picked his punches well and started to land with regularity, although Kinvig was always in it and had success to the body.
In the second round the Cheshire man upped the pace and put more venom into his punches. Kinvig wasn’t to be out done and halfway through a big right-hand had Griffiths’s nose bleeding heavily.
Following a long stoppage to clean him up and a visit to the doctor, Griffiths showed more intensity as he ripped in punches to body and head.
The third round was another toe-to-toe battle where both boxers in the ring centre and trading blows at will. Kinvig tired towards the end as Griffiths looked for the stoppage but the Manxman saw out the round, but it was Griffiths whose hand was raised at the bell.
The show had started with the customary three skills bouts which are a platform for young and novice boxers to get a taste of the big fight atmosphere and new opponents.
Onchan schoolboy Louis Page was up against Taio Halls (Wildstar) and showed slick southpaw skills while Halls landed some eye-catching right hands in an even bout.
Douglas schoolboy Riley Prince made his debut but didn’t look like a first timer against Samuel James (Penwortham). Both showed great skill, but Prince looked the strongest as they went at it from the first to the final bell in another even bout.
Well-supported Douglas schoolboy Lenny Henderson faced Noah Smith (Wildstar). The bigger Manx lad was always on the front foot and taking the fight to his opponent. Smith showed some slick skills to avoid a lot of Henderson’s punches and was quick on the counter in a see-saw contest where the action flowed from one to the other.
There were two support bouts with boxers who travelled to fill in where bouts had fallen through in the week running up to this show. Oisin Burke (New Era) came out on top with a unanimous decision against Jack Silva (Halliwell) in a close, competitive senior middleweight contest.
In another middleweight contest, Cardiff’s Joseph Smith was a unanimous winner against Damari Warring (New Era).
New Horizon would like to thank all bout sponsors for the support, the show’s main sponsor TCQ Groundworks and all the volunteers that make these events happen. The club will travel to the England in a return match with the Cheshire team, as well as returning to the Palace later in the year for another action-packed night.