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06/01/2009
England v Germany team manager's report
Youth and senior team match, Friday 19th December, National Indoor Arena, Birmingham
Day One:
An exciting team of emerging youth and senior talent assembled in Birmingham and was introduced to team manager Tyrone Harold, national head coach Mick Gannon, Midlands regional coach Alan Keast and coach Ronnie Rowe. The team, comprised mainly of boxers from the Midlands, the North and the North East, was raring to lock horns with its German counterpart.
A team meeting took place and the honour of team captain went to Antonio Counihan, a local lad boxing at 60kg, who was very proud to accept the job. Following the meeting the team went to unpack and met back at 5.30pm ready for a 6pm weigh in. The weigh in was conducted by O.I.C Mick Budden from England.
The German team was lead by Adolf Angrick, who had previously taken his national team to China for the Beijing Olympics. He was joined by a very talented young German team coached by Michael Stachewicz, Zoltan Lunka and Michael Gratschow. All of the bouts were confirmed as the weigh-in went without a hitch and the teams were then treated to dinner. Special mention must go to Tower Hill boxer John Quigley who gave up the last steak in favour of a burger so the team manager could have it, a nice gesture from a great lad that should see him go far! After dinner the team retired for the night to get plenty of rest for the following day.
Day Two:
The team was joined at this time by 60kg youth international boxer, Eamon Finnegan from Northern Ireland and his coaches. Eamon had been flown in at short notice to replace the 60kg German boxer who pulled out of the trip and who was scheduled to box local crowd favourite Antonio Counihan.
ABA Chief Executive Paul King greeted the team and ABA Chairman Keith Walters took time to offer words of encouragement and present them with their England vests. The show began at 8pm, kicked off with a ring parade followed with the exchanging of gifts with the German team and a real treat was the singing of both national anthems in the ring by a very talented local opera singer.
The show started with a support bout between two good schoolboys, Ben Griffiths from Tamworth ABC and Connor Baker from Wednesbury ABC. Both lads put in a fine performance under daunting conditions, with Connor just shading the decision on countback. This cracker of a show opener organised by Alan Keast lead superbly into the main event.
BOUT 1:
YOUTH 54KG JOHN QUIGLEY (ENG) BEAT DANIEL JASS (GER) 14-12
Both boxers took a little time to feel their way into this contest as the first round ended even. The second round saw John continue in his switch-hitting style to take the round with some explosive hooks to the body. He scored with a fine right hook, straight left to the head combination. The German boxer was well schooled and picked up points with some good hooks himself. John, back in the ring following his Junior Commonwealth gold medal grew in power with each round, and midway through the fourth gave his German opponent a standing count, following a great left hook to the head. This was a good even contest that John won 14-12. By his own admissions John did not turn in one of his best performances on the night, but he has remained unbeaten for well over a year.
BOUT 2:
SENIOR 60KG MARTIN STEAD (ENG) LOST TO EUGEN BURHARD (GER) 7-7 AND 13-14 ON COUNTBACK
The opening round was a cagey affair, with Martin's southpaw style and Burhard's orthodox with long extended left hand causing both boxers to struggle to settle. Martin battled well throughout this contest against a wily opponent who was skilled at tying up and roughing up his English counterpart. Martin boxed well on the counter and also scored on a few occasions when the bullish German came inside to try to box Martin up close. A tight contest that could have gone either way went to the German on countback.
BOUT 3 :
SENIOR 69KG STUART BUCKLEY (ENG) LOST TO DIETER DOHL (GER) 7-13
Stuart faced a strong, shorter opponent in Dohl and was confronted with sharp two-fisted combinations from the opening bell. Stuart relied on some cute footwork in the opening round to keep the German at bay and responded in the second round with some excellent work himself, culminating with a straight left right followed by a short left hook to the head that rocked Dohl. After two rounds it was fairly even, however the German upped his game over the last two rounds to take the bout by five points. Stuart put in a good performance against a strong German champion and should be proud of his night's work.
BOUT 4:
SENIOR 64KG STEVE TURNER (ENG) BEAT DAVID MULLER(GER) 3-2
Steve Turner put in a good performance in a tight bout against a cagey German champion. It was tidy combinations and slick footwork in the last two rounds that took the spoils for Steve and evened up the score for the team on the night to 2-2. The victory was assured with a sharp left hook followed by a straight right in the fourth to finish 3-2 in favour of the English boxer.
BOUT 5:
SENIOR 54KG YASSER NASSER (ENG) LOST TO MARCEL SCHNEIDER (GER) 3-20
Yasser, making his debut for England, drew without doubt the best performer from the opposition. After two rounds he found himself 8-1 down, due mainly to Schneider's superior footwork and lightning combination punching. The third round followed the same pattern as the first two, and ended with the German 11-2 up. Yasser had no option but to take the fight bravely to Schneider in the fourth but the German had all the answers and took the bout 20-3. This was a good learning curve for Yasser and he battled away right to the end.
BOUT 6:
SENIOR 69KG TOMMY LANGFORD (ENG) BEAT TAIRI BUKURIM (GER) 11-5
Tommy turned in an accomplished performance to even the scores up for the team once again. He took the first round steady to read his opponent and went in at the bell 1-0 down. Tommy, contrasting a neat efficient style with the more flashy approach from the German, eased through the next two rounds to take a 8-2 lead into the fourth. Bukurim could not live with Tommy's obvious class and received a warning for holding midway through the fourth. The victory, 11-5 for the University of Birmingham student, was impressive on the night.
BOUT 7:
YOUTH 75KG RYAN ASTON (ENG) BEAT ARTUR MANSCHOS (GER) 15-4
Ryan lived up to his billing as 'The Tank' with a strong physical display of powerful combination punching. His southpaw straight right/left combinations to the head saw him take a 3-1 lead in the first. In the second he scored two good points with his powerful backhand but conceded two points late on in the round when he let his concentration drop. After good advice from his corner Ryan picked up his game and came in at the end of the third 10-4 up. The English boxer proved too strong at the finish and returned an impressive 15-4 victory for his country.
BOUT 8:
YOUTH 81KG CHARLIE DELVE (ENG) BEAT KENAN BAYRAMI (GER) 12-10
The quiet man of the team proved one of the most explosive boxers on the night. Charlie started well in the first and put his opponent on the canvas with a cracking right hook and ended the round 4-1 up. To his credit the German champion rallied well in the second, although Charlie always carried an obvious threat. The second round ended 7-4 to Charlie and more solid right hands in the third established a 10-5 lead for the big Englishman going into the last. With the bout slipping away from him, the German responded well, but Charlie deservedly ran out a 12-10 winner on the night. National coach Mick Gannon was particulary pleased with Charlie's performance.
BOUT 9:
SENIOR 57KG DANNY LAWLOR (ENG) LOST TO TOM LANGELOTZ (GER) 8-9
This was a quality contest between two very good boxers that was tight throughout all four rounds. Danny scored with good left hooks during the contest but the German was always able to respond, and with both boxers giving their all the final round ended 9-8 in favour of the German. This was a result that could have easily gone Danny's way.
With the Team Match ending with a fine 5-4 victory in favour of the English, it was down to team captain Antonio Counihan to round off a fine night's boxing against a very good Irish opponent.
BOUT 10:
YOUTH 60KG ANTONIO COUNIHAN BEAT EAMON FINNEGAN (IRE) 14-10
Both boxers gave each other plenty of respect in the first and as a result a tight round finished 1-1. Antonio set about his work well in the second and sharp combinations - and in particular one superb straight right - gave him a 5-2 lead at the end of the second round. The third round underlined both boxers' undoubted class as they turned in a fine exhibition of crisp combination punching to end 9-6 in Antonio's favour. The England captain was able to find another gear in the fourth and to the delight of his dad (who assisted Mick Gannon in the corner) returned a fine 14-10 victory.
Special mention and thanks must go out to Eamon and his coaches for coming over at short notice to take the bout.
At the end of a fine night of boxing the German team manager wanted to extend his thanks to Mick Budden and his officials for some excellent officiating and very fair handling of all the contests. Also his thanks go out to the ABAE and tournament organisers for their superb hospitality. The evening was concluded with a reception where the remaining team members and officials enjoyed some fine food. Thanks must also go to Ben Plevey for his hospitality towards both teams
I feel that the match was a success and that the boxers excelled in their contests on the night against a strong young German team. The team spirit and behaviour was of the highest order, the coaching team of Mick Gannon, Alan Keast and Ronnie Rowe was excellent and Mick Budden and his team of officials displayed a very high level of officiating. Robbie Boyd and Pauline Maxwell, organisers for the ABAE also played a big part with their efforts in an excellent advert for International Amateur Boxing in this country.
Tyrone Harold
England Team Manager
