Thrills and spills on superb evening of amateur boxing

Former World Champion Amir Khan and Dewsbury MP Paula Sherriff couldn’t fail to be impressed at the quality entertainment on show from eight junior and three senior fights.

Two of the youngest boxers on show got the evening off to a great start as KBW’s Faizan Khan and Shaun Paul Knight (H Hour Boxing Gym) produced an entertaining skills bout over three one minute rounds.

Ubaid Lakha (KBW) and Frankie Martin Stuart (Gladiators Boxing Academy) were also given a taste of boxing in front of a large crowd in a second skills bout — where no winner is declared.

Fight of the night came in the first competitive bout as KBW’s Jerry Price met Kai Hardaker of Metro ABC.

Both boxers showed aggression, trading some vicious blows over three one and a half minute sessions.

An action packed second round earned a nod of approval from Khan before Price gained the upper hand at the start of the third, with a knock down.

Hardaker fought back superbly after recovering from his eight count and the pair fully deserved a standing ovation from the crowd.

A hug at the end of three absorbing rounds showed the mutual respect, and fantastic sportsmanship, between the pair before Price was declared the winner by a split decision.

Another closely fought contest saw Jimmy Egan’s Boxing Academy fighter Shaun McManus edge out KBW’s Moqeet Rahman.

Home man Jibran Kurshid forced a standing eight count in the second round of his bout with Daniel Swift (H Hour Boxing Gym) on his way to a unanimous points win.

Dan Safa (Hebden Bridge) earned a unanimous decision over a gallant Patrick Howarth (Gladiators).

Two more home wins followed as Osama Kaleem (KBW) defeated Kane Salvin (Sheffield Boxing Centre) on a unanimous decision before popular KBW boxer Adnan Khan defeated Metro’s Shoaib Ishaq by unanimous decision in a bout fought in a raucous atmosphere.

A break allowed the majority of the crowd to have photos taken with their hero Amir Khan, while an impressive guest list introduced to the public included USA Olympic Gold medallist and World Champion Claressa Shields, 17-year-old Youth Commonwealth Games medallist Harris Akbar and Commonwealth Games silver medal winner Qais Ashfaq.

The three senior bouts began with a brutal first round stoppage win by Kitcho Ruskov (Gladiators) over Bailey Bennett (Jimmy Egan’s).

A fierce overhand right sent Bennett crashing to the canvass early in the first round and Kitchko then unleashed a barrage of blows which forced the referee halt proceedings after just 52 seconds.

Ayub Khan (KBW) and Joshua Padley (Doncaster) traded some fierce blows early in their 61KG contest.

Midway through the first round, Padley landed with a cracking shot which sent Khan crashing to the floor for a knock-out win.

Thankfully Khan managed to walk from the ring unaided after a few minutes.

The final bout of the night saw Huzaifa Khan (KBW) meet Connor McIntyre (Metro) in a 70KG contest.

Both men threw some big shots before Huzaifa rocked McIntyre with an upper cut towards the end of the first round.

Huzaifa landed a cracking body shot which left McIntyre gasping for breath at the start of the second and the Metro man did well to survive the following onslaught.

Huzaifa lost his gumshield, giving McIntyre valuable seconds to regather his composure before the KBW man was warned by the referee for a low blow.

Huzaifa landed another energy sapping body shot at the start of the third, followed by a clubbing overhand right, which forced a standing eight count as Huzaifa went on to seal a unanimous points victory.