March 6th, 2009

What a night! at the Marconi Club in London. Your host, Irving Chestnut & the King Street School of Boxing. Food, canteen, great service, terrific music man who was very good with the music & the calling of boxers to the gloving tables. Glovers did a great job of keeping the bouts moving at a decent pace. Great set-up inside the club. Terrific for boxing events. All around, it was a great show with some noisy but great people in the audience. Attendance was maximum. New announcer to boxing who took a few bouts to warm up but once he got into the swing of boxing, he did pretty good. On hand from Sarnia, Frank White the Pro Canadian Cruiser
Weight Champion made a guest appearance & helped in the corner with his coach Tim Taylor. Frank is a registered coach with the OBA. That could be Ontario's Best Association but it is the Ontario Boxing Association, a full cut above the rest.

Charging out at the sound of the first bell was Loyalist's Javen Partica at 105 lbs, all the way from Belleville to battle King Street's Argend Veseli. This was one heck of a good bout. Both novice (that means they had 10 or less bouts) boxers were crisp with their punches. They were well schooled before they entered the ring. Great bout & this could easily be a rematch.

2nd round opened with Nick Ritchie from King Street in the 115 lb division against River City Sarnia's Brett Barnes. These two lads were ready from the sound of the bell. They didn't stop til the end of the 3rd round. Nice...just nice bout.

3rd bout had the ladies - Amanda Beaudin from Hamilton against Tiffany Nugent from the host club in the 120 lb division. That Amanda should be called 'Bonnie' for her machine gun punching. Tiffany did well dealing with the fast pace Amanda who brings it upstairs & downstairs.

4th bout opened with King Street's Dustin Henry in the 150 lb division against Loyalist's Troy Patterson. Dustin used his long reach & moved about the ring well. Troy used the ring space & his combinations as a great offense.

5th bout had the ladies Mandy Taylor from River City in Sarnia against Alicia Champagne from the host club in the 140 lb division. Mandy the agressor was caught by surprise when Alicia took the punches & then brought the fight back to Mandy. Mandy must have eaten Wheaties in the morning to display that much energy. Wow!

6th bout had 2 King Street boxers Lane Strickland against Mike Nugent in the 126 lb bout. Someone should have told these guys that it was a boxing meet not a war.

7th bout had 2 King Street boxers both novices, Luis Rodriguez against Neil Hamell in the 140 lb division. They used the ring from one end to the other as they battle each other for the win.

8th bout was a dyamite bout with Patrick Murphy from the host club in the 125 lb division against Brayden (Brady) Keating from TNT in Guelph. These guys really mixed it up. There were some nice combinations. I am sure both coaches were very proud of the determination both boxers displayed.

9th bout had Sean Tourand at 150 lb from the host club against Ring London's new boxer, Tim Tilbury. Sean had only one prior bout & Tim stepped into the ring for his first fight. These boxers squared off well.

10th bout was a short bout. Eric Littell from King Street in the 170 lb division against TNT's Erik Rasmussen. Both boxers first bout. Each tried to just figure out the game in the first round but the second round was a quick ending.

11th bout was totally action packed. Terrific crowd pleasing bout. King Street's Ryan Corneya at 137 lbs against Black Eye Brantford's Dave Aucoin. These guys must have come from the same mold. Good technical skills. Nice combinations. Good power. Terrific bout!

12th bout had two young ladies both from King Street in London perform an exhibition. Deedra Chestnut daughter of coach Irving & Nettie Chestnut against Deedra's best friend, Biine'Kwe (pronounced Benny-qua)Elijah in the 140 lbs division. These gals have battled before & battle again they did. They each have one win against each other. This exhibition was not just a battle for the win but more of a chance to display some of the boxing they are learning. They have advanced from their first time in the ring. Keep up the good work gals.

The MAIN EVENT was a standing ovation to the boxers. Bryan Edge from Primetime in Oakville in the 155 division against
Jeremy Abbott from Boone's in Niagara Falls. Working Bryan's corner was Lawrence Boom from London & Joel Yip Chuck
from Guelph. Working Jeremy's corner was Hank Boone from Niagara Falls & Tim Taylor from Sarnia. Each coach used their advanced skills trying to give their boxer the strategic combat skill to win the bout. This was such an equal bout. Both boxers power punchers. Both boxers have great chins. Both boxers have what we call 'heart' in the ring. Both boxers are very pleasant & decent people outside the ring but inside the ring, they are masters of their own fate. This was a dynamite bout. At the end of the night, Jeremy approached Bryan & said 'hey man that was great...we'll have to do this again sometime.' Bryan responded with a grin 'Sure' & that is the beginning of two guys that will be friends but will take serious the business in the ring.

Your chief official was Brodie Boone who ref'd the night. The esteemed doctor was Dr. Faisal Rehman who is the King Street's official doctor & he did an excellent job. Very nice guy. We even shared a peanut butter cookie with him. The officials were Jen Barnia from Hamilton, Marilyn Taylor from Sarnia, Sherry Boone from Niagara Falls & assisting Tim Taylor from Sarnia.

Well see you next fight show....that's in one week at the Legion Branch 90, Oak Street, in Brantford on the 13th of March where your host is Bill Williams of the Black Eye Boxing Club & maybe some of the bouts can be a rematch there?

Til next time....be there or be square.