Merridale club-mates become adversaries

Close friends will become adversaries for three rounds in the West Midlands final and someone's '0' must go, writes Craig Birch.

Both are unbeaten and come into the Class A - for boxers with two to 10 bouts experience - 75kg West Midlands final in imperious form.

A whopping 11 entrants at the weight have been whittled down to the fast hands of the slick Samuels and the game come-forward style of club-mate Walker.

Samuels made sure by taking out Robert Thoane, from Lions in Dudley, in the second round of his box-off on Sunday, following on from a first-round stoppage of Orme's Jamie Johnson.

Walker had boxed the first time around and finished the job early, too, leaving Cleary's Liam Timms a bloody mess to force the end in the second.

Those contests came at the Newdigate Sports & Social Club in Bedworth, with Samuels and Walker set to lock horns on Friday at a venue to be decided.

Both have 10 competitive victories to their name without reply, but one must now fall with a place in the national stages at stake.

The Wolverhampton fight club's coach Zabir Ajaz said: "It's been a bit tense in the gym this week and I think most of us just want to get it out of the way.

"But there's no getting away from the fact that this is a fight everyone wants to see. Boxing fans love punchers and these two hit very hard.

"We knew this could happen, but they are the best of friends and I'm confident they will be again after the fight.

"They are both of the opinion that, if they are going to lose, they would rather it would be to someone from the club. In my opinion, the winner could go on to be the national champion.

"They've not even been kept away from each other, they were in the ring shadow boxing together the other night. Some people don't understand - it's just a sport."

Heavyweights Antony Woolery, Solomon Dacres and Louis Brown complete the Black Country contingent still involved, as area titlists waiting for the first national round.

Woolery, from Richie Carter's Golden Gloves in Wolverhampton, won twice in three days to take the 91kg Class A West Midlands crown.

First he defeated big Russian Aleksandr Kravcuk, from Wellington Boxing Academy in Shropshire, unanimously on points in a box-off to make the area decider.

That put him up against Wolverhampton's Michael Fietko, who beat him on his own club show earlier this year.

A determined Woolery dropped him with a right uppercut in the first round, with an under-fire Fietko lucky to see the end of the session.

That gave the Black Country-based Pole time to regroup and take the fight back to Woolery, as the two went into the trenches toe-to-toe.

The knockdown made the difference as Woolery's hand was raised unanimously at the final bell, with the judges favouring his aggression over Fietko's spirited fightback.

Super heavyweight Dacres, from Warley, scored unanimous victories two weekends in succession to land 91kg plus honours.

First he downed Walsall Wood's Daniel Pullinger, before working well again off the jab to send Tamworth's Rafal Zmarzly the same way.

Merridale's Brown didn't come across an opponent at 91kg in Class B (11 to 20 contests) and progresses without boxing through a bye.

The opening bout in Bedworth on Sunday, at 56kg in Class A, saw Brooklands' Jason Hodgkiss unanimously eliminated by Said Saidi, from D & A in Birmingham.

Hodgkiss, coach and fighter for former pro Darren McDermott's home gym in Dudley, lost the first round but looked to have won the third, after a close second.

Waqar Hussain, from Lions in Dudley, went out on a split decision at 60kg to Tyrrell Cummings, from Bell Green in Coventry.

Wolverhampton's Clayton Bricknell didn't make the weight for his 64kg area final, coming down from 69kg. The title instead went to Romain Ncube, from Second City.

Merridale's Jugraj Bahia and Rugeley Police's Alex Makin were two of six entered at 69kg. Bahia lost on a split to Hall Green's Connor Fanning, Makin unanimously to Aston's Carl Waldron.

Merridale's Jonty Carnegie got to within a fight of the 81kg area final, before bowing out to Orme's James Cunningham unanimously.

Beaten finalist Cunningham had conquered Warley's David Pettifer unanimously in his first fight, with Carnegie recording the same result over Droitwich's Jonathan Childs.

In Class B, Great Wyrley's Mitchell Roberts was stopped in the second round by Worcester City's Ameen Khan at 60kg.

Wyrley's Jamie-Lee Mansell was also knocked out at 69kg by Kaisee Benjamin, from Eastside in Birmingham, who faced Lions' Gary Tomlinson in the final.

That fight ended early due to Tomlinson sustaining a cut eye midway through the last round, with Benjamin given the decision unanimously.

Wyrley's depressing Senior Development run was completed by Ryan Mansell at 81kg, who was stopped in the first round by Eastside's Shakan Pitters. Mansell will now drop to middleweight.