Crawley Boxing Club skipper Rhymes gets deserved victory

Rhymes took on Johnny Edwards from the home club's Hillcrest ABC as one of the warm up bouts for the National Amateur Championship Regional Finals, and went to work early on.

International Olympic grade referee Geoff Cannell stepped in during round one to administer a standing count to Edwards after he was rocked by a big right hand from Rhymes.

More was to come in round two as Rhymes slipped and countered, landing rear hands during the tussle that visibly hurt his opponent. By round three referee Cannell had seen enough and when another big right came over the top it was all over for the gallant Edwards as Rhymes chalked up his first win.

Young Dimitri Mesnik extended his winning run with a hard fought points win over DJ Smith of Camberley at 54kg. The 14 year old Pound Hill youngster is being entered into the national schoolboy championships and today he was gathering well needed experience and showed massive improvement by staying calm under pressure and landing heavy shots on the front foot.

Guy Watson gave a good account of himself against a strong and confident Frank Manser of the Hope and Glory Club of Chatham. 12-year-old Guy took it to his Kent opponent but was caught on the counter and was thwarted by the slick movement of Manser who danced until the final bell taking the unanimous decision of the judges.

All three lads are now looking forward to performing on the Three Bridges-based club's home show at the Goffs Park Social Club on Sunday, April 23rd. Around 15 bouts are expected between the Crawley squad and opponents from across the region. Tickets are just £15 for adults and £10 for under 16's. First bell at 1pm.