THE inaugural collaboration between St Joseph’s Boxing Club, Newport, and St Joseph’s, Caldicot, proved a resounding success on Saturday night.

The organisers of the event at Caldicot Leisure Centre pulled out all the stops to ensure that the sell-out crowd were thoroughly entertained.

Each eagerly-anticipated bout was introduced with entrance music and ring girls that any professional promotion would have been envious of.

St Joseph’s matchmaker Dave Exton ensured that the 15 compelling bouts were evenly matched with weights ranging from 26kg skills schoolboys to the 110kg superheavyweight division.

The show opener between Mason Bush of Newport and Aled Curtis of Caldicot set the scene for the evening, even though both nine-year-old boxers weighed a mere 26kg. Both competitors set about their moment in the spotlight with dogged determination that earned them rapturous applause.

Debutants Jorgan Haxhiaj (St Joseph’s Newport) and Tom White (St Joseph’s Caldicot) served up a thrilling encounter, with both boxers displaying levels of fitness and determination that belied their debutant status. The bout was voted best of the night and earned the victorious Haxhiaj the accolade of Best Boxer of the night.

Results (home boxers first): M. Bush skills, A. Curtis (Caldicot); Liam Curtis (lost) A Powell (Caereau Ely); G. Buckland (won) J. Bryce (Worcester City); S. Ward (lost) A. Morris (2nd City); G. Williams (won) Z. Najmi (Caerphilly); C. Evans (won) L. Varley (2nd City); S. Abdulah (won) L. Hegarty (Victoria Nash); Z. Burke (lost) M. O’Reagan (2nd City); M. Haysom (lost) D. Palmer (Cwmcarn); S. Marchant (lost) T. Evans (Gilfach); E. Carroll (won) G. Passelle (Empire); J. Pritchard (lost) L. Richards (Cwmcarn); J. Haxhiaj (won) T. White (Caldicot); J. Buffery (won) G. Antoniou (Empire); R. Jones (won) A. Gibbons (Tylerstown)

Anyone interested in taking part at either the Caldicot and Newport gyms, please contact Roger Williams (Newport) on 07884 463444 or Martin Lewis (Caldicot) on 07879 223223.