Nijjar gets Cleary’s show off to an explosive start

Standout performances came at beginning and end of the night, with Hargobind Nijjar impressing with some clean head shots during his skills bout against Willenhall’s Levi Kerry and Sean Greenfield defying a lack of training to outclass Luke Bodycote (Red Corner ABC) to bring the evening to a close.

However, there were plenty more positives to be had from the show, with head coach Edwin Cleary admitting that the “fantastic” atmosphere in the gym had transferred itself into the ring.

In their ring debuts, Jai Rai Singh and Jordan Tamana faced tricky opponents in Long Eaton ABC’s Isaac Warrington and Sileby ABC’s Daniel Leacock, respectively.

Singh struggled to get through the sound defence of his much shorter opponent in a cagey affair, while Tamana gradually fought his way back into the contest against the busy Leacock, with both fighters sure to benefit from their first taste of skills action.

Rheece Cleary showed some impressive combinations in his skills encounter against Ben Welch (Aston Police), with father Edwin hoping to get him back into the ring before Christmas.

In the first of the junior contests, Joe Horrocks went punch for punch with Long Eaton’s Liam Burton, with the Cleary’s boxer’s superior quality earning him a unanimous decision.

There was little between Dan Quartermaine and Junaid Iqbal (Spit N Sawdust ABC) going into the final round of their contest, with both fighters having been deducted a point for holding.

However, Quartermaine produced an excellent final two minutes to gain the decision from all five judges.

Liam Timms suffered the hosts’ first defeat of the evening, with a last-round flurry coming too late to stave off a majority-decision defeat against Warwick ABC’s Liberty Durrant.

Cale Sunner also looked to be going the same way after a strong start by Trinity ABC’s John Langley.

Langley continued to be the aggressor throughout the three-round contest, but Sunner’s accurate counter-punching gained him a somewhat fortunate split decision on the judges’ cards.

Following a short break, Michael Jephcott raised the temperature in the Assembly with a superb performance against Coventry Boys’ Dan Jenkins.

Cries of ‘Jeffers, Jeffers’ rang out around the venue as Jephcott’s come-forward style overwhelmed the Midlands champion, with a late flurry and standing count for his opponent allowing the Cleary’s fighter to take the acclaim of his fans well before the unanimous decision was announced.

Wailjanmangal Khan and Aaron Brabander both gained majority decisions against Sean Joyee (Telford & Wrekin) and Yinka Martin (Coventry University ABC) respectively in low-scoring contests, while Paul Dable’s contest against Coventry University’s Jamie Donning was stopped in the second round.

Dable was constantly picked off by his flabby opponent as he looked to land a knockout blow in the opening round. And, after stumbling to the canvas early in the second round, his corner threw in the towel, with it later transpiring that Dable had complained of problems with his vision.

Myles Vale was next up againstNaz Mahmoud (Capitol ABC).

The Cleary’s man showed a sound defence in an excellent contest, butdespite his opponent failing to land clean blows, he took the bout on a unanimous decision.

With Nav Manku Singh’s bout against Paul Coleman’ (Shannon/Ancoats ABC) failing to get the necessary approval, Greenfield brought the show to a close just short of midnight against Bodycote.

There was little to choose between the former sparring partners in the opening round.

But, despite a month away from the gym and only one fight in the past year, Greenfield showed no signs of ring-rust as he stepped it up in the final two rounds.

The Cleary’s boxer showed excellent footwork to pick off his fellow Midlands champion at will, leaving the judges with their easiest decision of the night.