Mahazi impresses in Clarke win (From Dudley News)

Mahazi impresses in Clarke win

1:02am Saturday 29th September 2012 in Sport

WARLEY amateur boxing star Nasser Mahazi recorded an impressive win against Wigan’s Harrison Clarke.

The 15-year-old scored a unanimous points verdict over Clarke, a runner-up in last year’s national ABA finals, in front of a packed crowd at Old Hill Plaza last night.

Mahazi showed intelligent boxing skills to keep his opponent largely out of range while landing some serious punches of his own, the most notable a straight right through the guard in the first round.

After the Warley man had enjoyed the better of the first two rounds, the third session was scrappier and closer. There was a fair bit of needle in the contest from the start and tempers flared at the finish, with both fighters pushing each other long after the bell.

Earlier at the Warley club’s show, home fighter Danny Conlon suffered a unanimous defeat despite a brave performance against Shotton’s Patrick Gallagher.

Conlon struggled in the first two rounds and took a standing eight count in the second after being rocked by a sturdy right from the hard hitting Gallagher. But the third round saw the fight turned on its head as Conlon came forward, forcing a standing eight of his own before almost flooring his opponent in the closing seconds with a sweeping left.

Young Josh Jeavons impressed in his unanimous win over Wye’s Kylop Holland, while Connor Young enjoyed similar dominance over Kane Baker.

But there was disappointment for Zak Burrows, who had a slow start to blame for his local derby defeat to Old Hill’s Keiron Green. Warley team-mates Muktar Mahazi and Jara Shokker were also on the wrong end of unanimous verdicts.

The 15 fight show featured three bouts from the Senior Novice Championship and perhaps the fight of the evening did not involve any home boxers, taking place just after the clock ticked past midnight.

Northampton’s James Gray was handed a majority decision over Oakham’s Leighton Brown despite shipping some serous punishment in the third round of a bout which was all-action from the first bell.