Chapman was first to enter the ring. Josh, who hails from Callington, weighed in at 59 kilos and his opponent, Harry Endean from Camborne Boxing Club, was a kilo heavier.
Of similar builds, with no obvious physical advantage to either protagonist, it was going to be an even match in which skill, fitness and determination would play important parts.
From the first bell and throughout the first round Josh showed good hand speed, body and head movement and managed to land excellent two handed combinations on his opponent.
Twenty seconds into the first round Endean had to take a standing eight count, Josh’s superior workratemand skill stunning the Camborne man.
The second round saw a slight mishap when a few seconds into the round Josh’s foot slipped and he went down, but recovered successfully. The fall seemed to slow Josh and while he managed to consolidate his superiority with better punching technique and movement, this was a close round as his opponent was now growing in confidence.
The third round, and all to play for, Josh showed great determination and in a close fought round still managed to score with good shots, but the effort was obvious as the pace had slowed.
A tense wait for the judge’s decision followed, the referee congratulated both boxers on a good clean contest, the crowd showed their appreciation for both boxers, and the judge’s decision was a win for Josh Chapman.
Josh has now been entered in the National Championships and will be boxing again soon.
Heavyweight boxer Pete Jarman was in the final bout of the evening and faced the St Ives boxer Ben Lewis. Both weighed in at 91-plus kilos. Some of you who follow Tavistock ABC will remember Pete boxing at 80 kilos before the pandemic. Well, we were still training, in a Covid restricted way! Physical builds were similar and it proved to be a good first post-pandemic contest for both boxers.
Round one saw the Tavistock man superior in all aspects, good movement coupled with punching combinations, a particularly strong jab leading to a five-punch combination after a minute which left the St Ives man stunned. Further good footwork and resilience under pressure by Jarman gave him the first round.
The second round saw Pete accelerate the pace after an attack by Lewis. The more powerful and accurate punching of the Tavistock man was now beginning to make it a dangerous place for Lewis but he was still throwing punches.
He was given a standing eight count after a passage which saw him take some sustained pressure. The round ended with Pete in the ascendancy.
The third round for the heavyweights saw Pete using his good footwork to land heavy blows to his opponents body and head, Lewis was given another eight count by the referee.
The end of the round saw sustained pressure from the Tavistock man. The result was a unanimous win from the judges and an emphatic win for Pete Jarman, who is to be congratulated on his first outing as a heavyweight.