Scarborough ABC’s national champion Danny Kelwick defeats Leo Ward to book place in Yorkshire final

With the Yorkshire stages of the competition being staged at Bridlington the reigning champion took his first steps towards hopefully winning another county title when facing Leo Ward of Hull.

It soon became evident that the shorter, stocky Ward was looking to land heavy hooks as he took the action to his Scarborough opponent. It was during an early exchange that the Hull boxer briefly managed to pin Kelwick against the ropes, before unleashing some heavy hooks to the head and body.

This appeared to send a message of intent to Kelwick, who began to box at long range, before switching his attack to the ribs of Ward. And so the pattern of the bout was set, with both young men looking to out fox each other in order to land damaging body shots.

As the opening session progressed, it appeared that the clever footwork and use of angles by Kelwick had given him an advantage to take into the second round.

During round two the Scarborough boxer began to heavily target the body of his opponent who began to struggle to fend off a now rampant Kelwick. It soon became clear that Ward was in deep waters as he struggled to fend off a determined champion.

Following two standing counts, referee Billy Mcdonald, stopped the bout, to save a brave Ward from further punishment.

Kelwick was announced as winner and now moves forward to the Yorkshire final against Doncaster’s Liam Williamson.