Furness Catholic ABC hosted their annual ‘Pat Ryan Dinner at the Ringside’ boxing tournament at The Forum in Barrow.

The annual event gives a chance for the club’s junior and senior boxers to show off their skills and the fruition of their training in front of a local, home crowd and is also the only fundraising show for the not-for-profit amateur boxing club.

A capacity audience were treated to 13 contests of amateur boxing under the licensed governing body of the sport, England Boxing.

The night began with juniors Kian O’Neill, 12, Scarlett Corkill, 13, and Will Turner, 14, all showing how well their techniques are developing in skills contests before the first scored bout of the night.

Charlotte Clarke then took to the ring in only her third contest against Kaylynne Biddle from Bromyard ABC and from the first bell, she took charge of the contest by throwing stinging left hands with great accuracy.

Clarke, 17, was correctly awarded a unanimous decision win, much to the delight of the home crowd and clubmates.

Next up, it was the turn of the senior boxers, with 23-year-old Michael Cheetham making his debut for the club against Callum Hay from Ambleside and Windermere ABC.

Cheetham grew in confidence after the first round and caught his opponent with several powerful right hands, eventually forcing the stoppage victory in a great display.

Gregg Brady boxed against Mikey Burgess from Carlisle Villa ABC in what was his second contest. Brady warmed into the fight in the second and third rounds and was able to get some close-range combination punches in. However, Burgess’ height and reach advantage ultimately resulted in Brady tasting defeat on the night.

Sean Mullholland was next on the bill for the home club, competing against David Lewis of Kendal ABC in his first contest, but unfortunately didn’t getting the winning verdict despite some good work across the three rounds.

Also making his debut was Keith Ngwenya, who took on Bradley Daley from Roche ABC and took the fight to his opponent, but was was unlucky to be on the wrong end of the judge’s decision.

Owen Kirk set to work against Gary Johnston from Carlisle Villa in a hard-hitting contest until injury struck when he had to retire at the start of the final round. due to a fractured hand and cartilage damage.

Last on the bill, but by no means least, was Glenn Mullholland, who faced Roche’s Zohaib Bakhat and the audience were treated to three rounds of sharp, tactical boxing before Mullholland was awarded the victory by unanimous decision.

All boxers were a credit to the club and behaved impeccably inside and outside of the ring, and can be looked at by younger members as an example of the dedication, discipline and work ethic required to compete in amateur boxing.