HARWICH Boxing Club were in action at the Colchester ABC show at St Benedict’s School.

Welterweight Paul Gordon gave a great account of himself against Bedford’s Jamil Rattab.

The pair had the crowd on their feet throughout.

Little separated the two in the first round, with both exchanging heavy shots.

Gordon then picked up the pace and scored well with delicious body shots to Rattab’s ribs.

Buoyed by this success and with confidence on the up, Gordon bossed the last round, forcing his opponent to retreat to the ropes on a number of occasions.

The Harwich boxer’s reward was a unanimous points win and he also picked up the best away boxer award, which gives some indication of just how well he did.

Moving up to the new weight division of light heavyweight, Patrick Allen-Cripps did not have everything his own way against stubborn Italian Gianni Antoh, from Trumpington ABC.

But towards the end of the first three-minute round and against the run of play, Allen-Cripps landed an unanswered seven-shot salvo to force a standing eight count.

The Harwich boxer laboured at times as he came to terms with a strong, mature opponent, but his class eventually shone through as his fast hands and sleek foot movement were the order of the day.

A unanimous points victory went the way of Allen-Cripps.

In two learning contests, juniors Josh Darvell and Jacob Kelly lost out on points decisions to Great Yarmouth’s Cley Nicholas and Chadwell St Mary’s Daniel Starns respectively.

Both gave 100 per cent and gained valuable experience in the process.

The previous week saw 15-year-old Frazer Mann make the long haul to Gateshead, to contest the national junior semi-finals against Hassan Azim, from Pinewood ABC.

Two separate jarring shots from the talented Azim brought about an automatic technical knockout defeat in his fight against Mann.

However, Azim then went on to take the national title the following day.

Mann has come on leaps and bounds this season and had three good wins to get to this stage.

He will certainly be in the hunt for further national honours later this year.