Day 2 in New Caledonia was the big night of boxing.
With 10 amateur bouts and 1 professional contest on show, the team were ready to prove that we were number 1.
Jorge Kapeen was boxing the New Caledonia Champion in the first fight of the night.
Jorge controlled the match very well using good footwork and strong attacks from a distance.
We had worked out during the video analysis of the previous nights fght, that we needed to use good footwork with pre punch actions and then the punches would all fall into place. Jorge won the bout in a confident manner.
Mitchell ” The Boomer” Coomer was up against the favourite son of New Caledonia and obvious crowd favourite. Mitchell started the first round slowly but he was doing all the things that we had spoken about earlier in the day. Cut the ring off with foot movement and use plenty of feints to keep him heading back to the ropes before letting attacks go.Round 2 and 3 were dominant for “Boomer” with a solid head and body attacks. Boomer loves to entertain and he stood toe to toe with the New Caledonian captain on many occassions coming out a winner on the night.
Matilda Shaw was next up for our team and we came up with a game plan during the day and all Matilda needed to do was follow the plan. Matilda was a great listener and she did everything asked of her during the match, she feinted and Jabbed, feinted then threw rear hands to the body and threw beautiful long left hooks to catch her opponent on many occasions. At the end of the match Matildas hand was raised and we saw a smile from Ear to Ear on her face.
Kosta Skrapis Boxed against his 2nd opponent in as many days.
Kosta landed some great punches throughout the fight and his body attacks were to perfection.
This fight saw both boys regularly trading solid blows and with the jab working early on in the match,Kosta started throwing a nice right hook to the head on many occasions to catch his opponent. A great achievement from Kosta to outbox and outwork his more fancied opponent.
Nigel Tuapola was having only his second fight to date on day 2 of competition with his first ever fight coming the previous day. Nigel was giving away 17kg on the scales and even though his hand wasnt raised, I for one (as well as many other spectators on the night) though he had won in a convincing manner.
Nigel used long punches with dominant force to both head and body and the result heard boos from the local crowd.
17 yr old Jack Bowen boxed above his weight division (usually 69kg) in the 75kg division but his 29 year old opponents actual weight was 77kg.
Jack was cautious and stuck to an excellent game plan throughout the match with long attacks, short attacks and beautiful accuracy to his opponents scoring area.
Jack was awarded the Boxer of the Tournament by his peers.
See Jacks first fight of the tour here
Tyson Den Hoedt was our final fight of the night against another crowd favourite.
Tyson fought a hard battle and with the removal of head guards for the first time, the willingness of both combatants brought a few painfull head clashes. Luckily there were no cuts on either boxer.
The fight was tough and a real crowd pleaser, with both boys going toe to toe in battle on many occasions. Tyson lost the closely contested fight.
A great weekend of fights and a great team to travel with.
Very proud of your work and professionalism Guys.
Some pictures:
