Boxing the winner from Bideford show

Bideford Boxing Club hosted its annual dinner show at the Durrant Hotel and, once again, the boxers delivered an amazing night in the ring.

Jacob Stevenson was the best senior boxer of the night, giving away age, weight and experience against Billy Newberry from Newquay. As the fight progressed, Stevenson began landing shots from range to pick off the shorter opponent. By the last round, Stevenson added in the big shots to the head and body to leave Newberry marked up and well beaten by unanimous decision.

Rocky Grigg was the best junior boxer of the night, also giving away age and experience to beat Mathew Galligan from St Pirans. It was an aggressive start from Grigg, landing big left hooks and right hands. Galligan showed grit to fight fire with fire in the second round as both boxers went toe to toe. In the last, Grigg’s superior fitness shone through. Galligan spent a lot of time on the ropes on the receiving end of hard combinations, as Grigg dominated and got the unanimous points verdict.

Alex Dovell retained his Light Heavyweight Western Counites belt against Lennox Smith from Pyramid ABC. Smith proved a worthy challenger, winning the first round with big shots. Dovell began to slow Smith down in the second with some hefty body shots. It was all on the line in the last but it was Dovell who came through, pushing Smith on to the back foot with hooks and uppercuts to gain the split decision win.

Jed Avery challenged for the Western Counties Light Middleweight belt against Kiall Goodhall from the Factory ABC. Avery put in a good effort, pressuring Goodhall throughout but was stopped in the second with a cut, as he was on the receiving end of several well-timed uppercuts. 

Andy Mitchell and Sam Trickey, both heavyweights from the host club, put on an entertaining bout against each other. The crowd was on their feet throughout, as the bout went back and forth before Trickey finished strong to take the points win.

Riley Chappell stepped up in experience against Cody Ward from St Pirans. Chappell dominated the first round, scoring straight punches on the front foot. The second was a tighter round with Chappell scoring the big power shots and Ward using his speed. Ward finished the stronger of the two with Chappell tiring in the last round. The judges struggled to split them with a very tight decision going to Ward.

Marley Barnes also stepped up in experience and came through a tough bout against Marley Dunn from Newquay ABC. Dunn was a neat boxer but Barnes found a way to win, roughing his opponent up on the inside for three rounds to get the unanimous decision. 

Leo McMenamin and Tucker Mills were both in rematches and came out on the wrong end of split decisions in two close fights. Leo boxed Joe Jones from Stallion ABC, McMenamin proved busier as Jones sat back and picked his shots. Tucker Mills boxed Alexander Jones from Port Talbot, Mills won the first convincingly but Jones finished strong.

There were wins for other Welsh Seniors on the bill, as Brad Newberry got a technical knockout against Alex Dale from St Ives and Sylwek Urbanski won on points against Connor Hendy from St Pirans.

One of Bideford’s Champions who wasn’t on the bill was Dylan Burston, as he boxed the next day in Bridlington in the NAGBC finals against Fabio Walsh from Premiere ABC. Walsh proved tricky boxing and moving from the southpaw stance to beat Burston on points. A great achievement for Burston though, number two in Great Britain in 2024.