Boxing: Big night of fights at the River City Boxing club

It was visitors 4 and locals 2 at the River City Boxing Club's annual November fight night on Saturday after another packed fight card at the Kaierau Country Club gym.

Ultimately, 24 amateur bouts were held between boxers from around 20 North Island clubs, slightly down from the originally planned number when the contingent of fighters from one of the Auckland clubs withdrew.

That meant River City's top prospect Egelani Taito had to miss out and so acted as cornerman for his clubmates.

Heinrich Burgstaller therefore stepped up to the main event against the tough Taupo fighter Jayden Ball, the two-time Golden Gloves heavyweight champion, who was angling himself towards a battle with double Commonwealth Games gold medallist David Nyika.

Boxing in the longest format for E Grade with three rounds of three minutes, Burgstaller had a strong first round, but succumbed to Ball's power in the second as he was put down to a knee twice, prompting his corner to throw in the towel.

Burgstaller started with good movement, handling Ball's opening hooks well, then getting through with a straight jab, before letting off a couple of hooks of his own as they grappled on the ropes.

Three body shots by Burgstaller was met with a counter hook by Ball, who moved back as the local fighter followed him until the bell.

Likely behind on the scorecards, Ball upped his aggression in the second round, and while it was rudimentary, it was certainly effective as a couple of winging shots caught Burgstaller on the side and top of the head, staggering him.

Going down to a knee, Burgstaller took a standing eight count, with his nose bleeding, and Ball came back with his heavy hands to blast the local with two more hooks, again sending him to a knee and making his corner decide that was enough punishment.

Earlier in the night, the referee called an early stop to Pheenyx Apiata-Cook's debut fight against the taller Emery McGill from the Velocity club in Hokowhitu.

A C Grade bout with three rounds of 90 seconds, McGill overwhelmed Apiata-Cook early with his hand speed, getting straight through the gloves with a series of combinations to earn a standing eight count.

The battering continued as McGill scored with perhaps 30 punches in the first round, compared to 5-6 in reply.

Staying on the balls of his feet in the second round, McGill continued to snap off jabs, although Apiata-Cook showed courage, getting some counter blows in, but was still outmatched.

Into the third round and a quick-fire McGill jab, uppercut and hook created another opening and poured it on to get another standing eight count, at which point the referee had seen enough.

Putting the first win on the board for River City was Cypress Atkins-Manukau, who earned a unanimous points decision over Rotorua's Hunter Hay in their C Grade matchup.

Both of these fighters stayed up on the balls of the feet in an exhibition of movement and sniping jabs, with Atkins-Manukau moving back to the ropes and looking to counterpunch during an even first round.

Hay tried long jabs from distance, with Atkins-Manukau ducking back and moving out of range before setting himself for a return volley, although by the end of the round he had started to slow, warned by the referee for letting the mouthguard hang out.

Hay pressed Atkins-Manukau towards the ropes early in the third round, which was countered with hook punches, while Hay got off a good straight shot and counterpunch of his own.

Possibly needing something, a tiring Atkins-Manukau found the wind for a late flurry, moving forward and pounding away on Hay on the ropes for a good flurry at the end of the fight, getting the nod from the judges.

Not quite so lucky was the debuting Jacovi Woods, who lost a majority points decision to Coastal Boxing's Cormach Hughson-How in their Y Grade matchup of three rounds of two minutes each.

Having the height advantage, Woods countered a pressing Hughson-How with an overhand punch and solid jab, then blocked hooks to counterpunch again.

After a ref warning for lowered heads, Hughson-How moved Woods back to the ropes, where he ducked and avoided most of the punches but got caught near the end of the round.

Needing to comeback, Hughson-How increased his urgency and came on strong with the jabs, loosening Woods headgear, and continued to pursue him around the ring.

The pace had to slow, and after squaring up, Hughson-How scored with two shots before the bell, with a hook from Woods in reply.

Recognising the scores were likely close, both young men came out for a big exchange to start the final round, Woods going to the body, before they again grappled on the ropes.

A Woods hook was met with a Hughson-How uppercut, with both fighters continue to trade shots along the ropes to the final bell, after which Hughson-How received the narrow decision.

There was a similar story for Majre Apiata-Cook, who lost a majority decision to Rotorua's Graeme Peni in their J Grade bout.

In what was becoming a trend for the locals, Apiata-Cook had the better of the first round, being on the balls of the feet and throwing shots to the head and body, while ducking under Peni's jab to score some more.

But coming into the second round, Peni countered some hooks and connected with body shots of his own, increasing his volume of jabs and Apiata-Cook had to cover up, before coming back towards the end of the two minutes.

It was coming down to the final round, with Apiata-Cook coming on with hooks, and the action twice needed a pause to wipe blood from Peni's nose.

Peni gave as good as he got, as Apiata-Cook began to tire noticeably and moved away, being pursued as Peni threw more wild punches at the bell, ultimately getting the nod from two of the three judges.

Trinity Albert was able to get a win back for River City when she earned a unanimous decision win over Taupo's Julia Tatupu in their C Grade bout.

Chasing Tatupu into the corner, Albert's best flurry of the first round was right before the bell, getting two hooks.

Short hook combinations were again the order of the day in the second round, with Tatupu aiming for the head then body, with the referee warning both about rabbit punches at the end of the round.

Being urgent, Tatupu rushed in with quick jabs to start the final round, with Trinity countered, before both girls traded blows in the centre of the ring.

Falling forward with her punches and getting hooks in reply, Tatupu had a bloodied nose before the finish, with Albert getting the win to make up for a close split decision loss at last year's event.

Also on the card, River City Boxing Club's Isabella Parkes and Maddie Buckridge boxed in exhibition bouts.

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Image 1 of 10: Rivercity Boxing Club tournament at the Kaierau country club: Pheenyx Apiata-Cook (red) vs Emery McGill Saturday, November 02, 2019 Whanganui Chronicle photograph by Bevan Conley.