THREE Sunderland East End ABC fighters tackle the armed forces this weekend after triumphing in the North East ABA Novice Championships.
Phil Thompson, Keith Reay and Brian Little all prevailed in the regional heats of the novice ABA’s last weekend and now face a team from the armed forces in the next round of the competition at Rainton Meadows tomorrow.
Super heavyweight Thompson, 30, narrowly got the better of North Road Gym’s Simon Pendleton after an intense tussle between the pair.
In an even bout, both fighters threw a barrage of punches from the opening bell, but it was Thomas – giving away a 6kg weight disadvantage – who got the edge as he kept Pendleton at bay with long shots, eventually taking the victory by a majority decision.
Reay, 20, also weighed in a few kilogrammes lighter than opponent Connor Graham, from Howden Boxing Club, and went to endure a scrappy light-heavyweight encounter.
Graham’s gameplan was to disrupt Reay with body shots, but the East End fighter kept his composure and concentrated on picking his opponent off with long shots to the head.
That proved to be a fruitful ploy, with Reay prevailing by a unanimous decision.
Little then made it a hat-trick of victories for East End, with the most convincing win of the night for the club.
The 27-year-old heavyweight proved too much for East Middlesbrough ABC’s Chris Thornton and unloaded the heavy artillery early on with some combinations to the body.
Little’s power took its toll in the second round when he sent Thornton to the canvas for a knockout.
The boxing gets under way in the next round of the competition from 1pm tomorrow.