Chichester boxer Shatri is a winner on club debut in Crawley

He was in action at Goffs Social Club in an event hosted by Crawley ABC taking on a home club boxer.

The 17-year-old was making his club debut for St Gerards in the heavyweight division weighing 86kg and up against 18-year-old Scott Livingstone, who was 87.5kg, in the youth division of England Boxing.

Livingstone had already had one contest, winning it by a unanimous decision.

St Gerards coach Gerry Lavelle said: “We took the contest at two days’ notice as Scott’s planned opponent had dropped out. Lance has been,chomping at the bit to get out in competition and we decided to go for it as we felt he was ready.

“I told Lance to relax and enjoy the experience as he was very hyped up for the contest. Lance is a very dynamic power puncher, especially for his age, so I knew his debut would be interesting.

“With his forward style of boxing, he would be chasing his opponent down. But competition is very different to all the sparring we do in preparation.

“When the bell sounded for the first round Lance went straight to work, as planned. He pushed his way forward cutting off the ring,trying to pin Scott down. Scott was keeping it at long range with his additional height advantage, to no avail.

"He was boxing from the southpaw stance trying to confuse Lance and negate his attacking style, catching Lance with some good shots initially. Then Lance settled and was finding his range, around a minute into the contest, and was catching Scott with some heavy rear hands.

“The classic three-punch combination of a left hook, rear right hand and another left hook to the head had Scott’s legs dipping and nearly giving way to the canvas. He was very clearly shaken and the referee jumped in to give him a much needed standing count. He had also lost his gumshield in the flurry of punches that had to be cleaned before the bout continued, giving him some extra recovery time.

“Lance was eager to continue and when the referee gave the signal to box on, Lance soon had Scott cornered,

“Lance immediately let go of a flurry of at least five hard head shots, both left and right-handed, and the referee jumped in and halted the contest. Scott had picked up an injury to his left eye, preventing him from continuing.

“Lance savoured his first competitive victory as the referee stopped the contest in the first round.

“He was amazing on his debut and will continue to improve with more suitable competition. He is a work in progress and is learning all the time.

“He is very disciplined in the gym and already the younger boxers look up to him.”

St Gerards are always looking for sponsorship for their boxers and the club to help them address anti-social behaviour and crime.