Walsall duo through in junior ABAs

Pleck ABC's Liam Etheridge took a big points win in the junior ABA championships - as Walsall Wood's ABC Daniel Breeze sailed through without boxing.

Breeze's quarter-final opponent at 66kg on Saturday in Class Four – for boxers born in 1996 - pulled out, so he 'walked over' to the next round.

Darren Fox, from Toothill ABC in County Durham, was coming into battle with just three fights worth of ring experience and had already lost once.

Conversely, Breeze is an England international approaching his 50th contest and is a two-time national champion in the ABA Schoolboys.

A mismatch was on the cards but not a punch was thrown, ensuring a Black Country presence in the semi-finals before the action had even began.

But Etheridge had to overcome a front-foot fighter in Sam Wallace, from Grainger Park ABC in Newcastle, to join Breeze in the next phase.

His ability to think under pressure made the scoreline suggest it was an easier outing than it looked, as Etheridge ran out a 30-17 points winner.

Their 54kg quarter-final clash on Saturday in Class Six – for boxers born in 1994 - took place at the Manchester Boxing Centre of Excellence.

Wallace's plan was to overwhelm Etheridge and, initially, it was met with some success, as the scores were tied 3-3 at the end of the first round.

It was another close round in the second but, this time, Etheridge's work was cleaner, allowing him to win the session by an 11-7 margin.

With the scores 14-10 going into the third, Etheridge settled into his groove and completely shut-out Wallace to take a commanding 21-10 lead.

Using his jab to stop Wallace from coming onto him, Etheridge took the time to pick his shots and used an array of punches to widen the scores.

Hooks and straight blows with the right hand rained in on Wallace who tried to respond with hooks of his own, only to be fended off with the jab.

As he done for the duration of the fight, Wallace came out for the fourth with a point to prove and put everything into the last of the four rounds.

But Etheridge still managed to score nine points for the session, as opposed to Wallace's seven, to seal his passage through.

Yesterday, Wednesbury ABC's Jack Wood went down fighting in his 54kg quarter-final clash with world champion Pat McCormack.

Wood kept going but, ultimately, went down by a points margin of 14-5 to the much-vaunted prospect from the famed Birtley Boys ABC in Gateshead.

Their 54kg quarter-final clash yesterday in Class Five – for boxers born in 1995 - opened with Wood working behind a high guard.

Almost from the outset, he was fending off big hooks from both hands of McCormack, but his punches mostly landed on the gloves.

But McCormack was more concerned with getting in close and his lunges forward offered him the opportunity to hit a lot of punches on the break.

Clinches were rife as the two fighters were tied up and, as they came apart, McCormack constantly landed the left jab to score with the judges.

That left Wood trailing 5-0 going into the second round but he adapted as McCormack was reprimanded, with an unofficial warning for holding.

Wood scored his first two points working up and under the hooks coming in. Although both were missing, his right hands were the cleaner blows.

But McCormack was still experiencing some success with the left jab on the break and, again, took the session by 5-2, leaving Wood chasing the fight.

There was little option but for Wood to come out and attack in the last round and he threw more leather at the last than in the rest of the bout.

Both fighters were tired and McCormack was sticking to the plan but Wood played him at his own game, turning the contest into a toe-to-toe battle.

That suited Wood, a capable brawler, and he enjoyed his most prolific round but, again, it wasn't enough as he lost all of the three sessions.

Wood attacked more with his left hand and scored three points but it was to McCormack's four, as his effort ended on the losing side of the scorecards.