Saturday 1st October 2011 was the date for Gateway Amateur Boxing Club's inaugural presentation night.
The Gateway club were delighted to have Former British and WBU World Welterweight Champion, Jason Rowland, Former English Heavyweight Champion, "Big" John Mcdermott, former Heavyweight British Champion Stan McDermott and local boy and popular favourite with the Gateway club, "John" Wayne Hibbert. Also in attendance to present awards were up and coming junior boxer Liam Desmond, co-founder of the club Mark "Sach" Bates and several family members of Karis May Darling, which was very much appreciated not just by the club but also the boys and girls who attended.
Nine awards were presented on the night with a winner and runner-up for each category. Head Coach and President of the club, Paul "Chico" Bates, was the host for the evening and made a fine job of not only presenting the awards alongside our celebrity guests, but also recalling in great detail the history of the members receiving those awards.
Prior to the main presentation, all members who attended received a medal on behalf of the club and a group photo with the celebs was taken for posterity.
To get events underway, Liam Desmond, a local boxer, currently making a big name for himself in the junior ranks was asked to present the "FHF" award for "Best Gym Squad Boxer" which went to Harry Manning, with Danny Meyers as runner-up.
Next up was the award for "Best Female Boxer" which was dedicated to Karis May Darling who sadly died earlier this year aged just 12 years. Karis was the niece of Dean Crumpton who assisted with the training at the club but who now dedicates much of his time, along with his family, to raising funds for the Karis May Darling foundation. The award was won by Ruby Bennett with her twin sister Emmie picking up the runners-up prize, both of which were presented by Karis' grandfather.
The third award of the evening, dedicated to Pat Groom, was for the "Most Improved Boxer" which was presented by Stan McDermott, former British Heavyweight champion and Father of current Heavyweight John. The winners trophy went to Sam Watson with Ben Furber as the runner-up.
Next on the agenda was the Mark "Sach" Bates award for the "Most Dedicated Boxer". Sach was a co-founder of the club and is now an honorary member who is always on hand give his expert advice. The winner of this award came as no surprise to anyone with Alfie Samwell picking up the honours and Ayden Jackson collecting the runners up prize.
The "Best Achievement" award was next and with a Junior Novices title already safely under his belt, Vinny Gordon had no rivals for this one, running away with a beautiful championship belt kindly donated by Wayne Hibbert and dedicated to his uncle Phil whose donations to the club are greatly appreciated. The trophy was presented to Vinny by Former English Heavyweight Champion "Big" John McDermott.
Local favourite with the Gateway members and recent Prize Fighter contender, "John" Wayne Hibbert, presented the next trophy for "Most Potential". The trophy was dedicated to Wayne for his involvement at the club and Louie Shilling was more than please to secure it with Blake Turp collecting the runners-up prize.
Former British and WBU World light welterweight Champion Jason Rowland then presented the award for "Best Bout" which went to Charlie Crumpton for his outstanding display in a clash at the Brentwood show earlier in the year. Louie Shilling picked up the runners-up prize for another great bout at the Novice Championships in Hutton.
The penultimate prize of the evening was once again presented by "Big" John McDermott and was awarded for the "Best Junior Boxer" and once again, Alfie Samwell was called up to receive the winners trophy for his achievements with Vinny Gordon running him a close second.
The final award of the night saw Jason Rowland back on the podium to presents the prize for "Best Senior Boxer". This was a very close call, but the committee voted in favour of Ryan Early who pipped Reece Nye to the post to win the coveted trophy.
Finally we would like to thank all of our members and their families who attended our Presentation Night and we hope that you enjoyed the evening. We would also like to offer our gratitude to Jason Rowland, Stan McDermott, John McDermott, Wayne Hibbert, Liam Desmond and the family members of Karis May Darling, all of whom kindly gave up their time to present the awards.
We look forward to seeing you next year.
Back to: Home Page | Club News Page
