I have uploaded the whole Eastside ABC show at the Con Club Belfast.

Its in 5 parts and all here - http://uk.youtube.com/profile?user=gkt999 OR - http://www.eastsideboxingclub.co.uk

There seem to be 3 fights missing from the DVD so I'll have to chase those up. The two youngest girls in the club are missing. where the best fights too.

Seer - Carly's fight is in part 3, if you want to see her actually fighting.

Uploaded now, sorry don't know why it was so slow today.

Enjoy and as usual comments welcome; good or bad.

People of Eastside...

Of the couple I've watched so far...

Gareth will no doubt have said I tend to look at folk as if they were my next opponent... Its not critical, its just constructive. I look and say "How would I beat you, what have I seen that I could exploit"

Carly... Fluent, natural and a peach of an uppercut at the start of the 2nd round! However, not fast of foot/head. I would look to out-jab and move... pop-pop-pop-gone! Then more of the same before you could re-group!

Tony... You have a stocky frame, strength and a decent pop... Why are you diving in with that chin up, son? Wide open to an uppercut. You also have a tendency to lean back rather than use your feet to get back out when hands are coming your way. Otherwise, lots pf potential on show.

Seer, which Michael? I couldn't class either of them as stocky, younger one is tall for his age weight as is the older one, both are fairly slim builds? I'm wondering have you possibly got one of them mixed up with Tony?

The other thing is that they video doesnt really show true sizes.

As normal I will report back to the boxers with all the comments.

Sorry mate, it was Tony (Nellins) I meant..

Will watch them all!

But, pleeeeease... Reassure the guys I'm not being critical, I think they are all doing great work... I just think its a useful tool to help overcome any chinks in the armour.

Ok, here's my take, for what its worth...

Some I have looked at it from an opponents point of view, others from what I'd like to see...

Carly... Fluent, natural and a peach of an uppercut at the start of the 2nd round! However, not fast of foot/head. I would look to out-jab and move... pop-pop-pop-gone! Then more of the same before you could re-group!

Tony... You have a stocky frame, strength and a decent pop... Why are you diving in with that chin up, son? Wide open to an uppercut. You also have a tendency to lean back rather than use your feet to get back out when hands are coming your way. Otherwise, lots pf potential on show.

Michael W... Excellent at range and the type I hated fighting.. After scratching my head, I'd try to get inside and mess you up, but like I said, TRY! Really enjoyed that bout, keep it up!

Lewis... You had most success when you moved your head and feigned your way in... Just need more of! If you don't do it, they will and grab the rounds.

Luke... Reminds me of ME! (30 years ago ). Try working the body more, a LOT more! Then up for the head, all with intent. When you plant the feet, don't get backed up. I like what I see here!

Michael H... I'd follow a similar course as the Dockers lad did... I'd try to back you up and I'd be throwing loads of over the top rights... You tend to drop that left and send an invite... Keep the left up and work work work that jab!

Cory and Scott J... Both of you could do with having your good hand tied up and being made to spar with one hand only!
Jab, jab, jab, jab....The missing shot!
You're both tall and rangy... The jab is the shot that will open all the doors for you.

Overall... I was very, very impressed and would like to thank all the fighters and staff at Eastside for giving me the opportunity to watch you all.



Excellent work from everyone!

Hope to get over someday soon and meet you all!

Firstly, Thank you Seer for taking the time not only to watch the fights but to comment on them as well.


Was his first fight ever and this year is through to the Ulster Amateur Novice Semi-finals for his age/weight to be fought next Saturday.


Luke had a great review written in boxing news about himself and his great switch hitting just before this show. Luke intends to clean up this year with a very high possibility of turning Pro after the Irish Senior's.

We've had this discussion with them numerous times, both HAVE to use their jab. I think we might see 5 min rnds on jabs with only jabs soon.


Difinite potential. Had a very frustrating night in the Con Club as you can see from the video Lewis should be winning some more titles this year.

Again thanks for your time Seer, and I'll get some footage of this years semi's and that upload as soon as they are fought.

Gareth.

Michael... Go get them, son!

Gareth, can I have an immediate update on the result, please?

I am ASTONISHED at that being Michael's first fight!!!

Sure seer, we're just waiting for the schedule at the minute, some kids fighting again on Tuesday or Wednesday and the girls are up on Thursday night.

Yip was his first ever fight, he might have had one exhibition fight before but I'm nearly sure that was canceled.

Michael W - I thought it was a class act for his first fight, you can obviously tell he is talented. He did everything right, i laughed at one stage because the other lad was trying so hard to get close but kept on meeting that jab, bang - bang, single, double, treble, great accuracy on the jab.

If i was to give him something to work with, i would say not to lean forward so much, he looks a little off balance at times when attacking, like his feat arn't quick enough for his hands and desperately trying to land every punch, this leads to him leaning forward and as you probably know leaning forward onto a counter right hand/hook/uppercut is a real fucking pain, literally, simply because your moving into another moving object. Relax a little more, more lateral movement because if he starts creating more angles he would seriously be someone tough to beat. Im sure he has gained alot of confidence with his first win, hopefully with that he will trust his own ability and pick more of the shots because he would have had him out half way through round one.

Strange thing is he did alot more damage when his opponent came towards him, when he was on the backfoot, his opponent met every punch on the chin. Now, you have got to have something to look good when fighting on the back foot.

A drill which will help his footwork, angles/awareness and punching range G, (also alot of fun) would be to get 5-6 guys in the ring (spread evenly around the edge of the ring), with him in the middle. The guys around the edge can only move slightly, they can't go out and attack him, only when he comes within range. Get him to attack one person, get in, throw a combo, get out then change direction and go for another guy, then change direction again. All about change of footwork, lateral movement and awareness whilst gaining experience of fighting different opponents and learning more about his punching range against different opponents. It's a real high intensity excercise, like a bull in a china shop, trying to cause havoc. I love it haha.

Lewis - what a scrapper haha. Literally a bull in a china shop. The other guy was like a wee matador just tempting him in and then both throwing wild hooks.

It is difficult to judge on that fight as it seemed pretty obvious that the other guy just wanted to counterpunch and get away as quickly as possible. I think Lewis needs a little more control, he looked like he was getting frustrated, the best thing you can say is fight at your own tempo, establish a rythem, make it your fight. To me Lewis always looked like he was in a rush to catch him and when he comes in like that, swinging all he's got, his opponent was wise to get out of there. Im sure you have heard billy graham say "educated pressure" well, thats was what he needed. Edge his way into the pocket, just within range, i rarely saw him throw a jab, now that is something he has got to do. Throw a jab, even if it's not going to land, throw it so you know the range, then edge a little closer, then bang, get in do your work and do it again. He seemed a young lad though, enjoyment is the first thing for someone of that age, if he enjoy's he will learn.

Luke W - I enjoyed this fight. I liked his guard alot, tight, solid, good work all round on the inside. Again i would say use more angles, inside and out, he came straight forward an awful lot and seemed content with just standing in front of his opponent on the inside and throwing shots.

Thing is just slowly circling your opponent or stepping to the side and leading them onto a straight right or hook is so much easier than walking forward trying to throw shots. It's just working on timing and having the confidence to think that one step ahead. Ricky Hatton does this great on the inside, push away, a step to the left, bang, bang, a step back to the middle, push away, a step to the right bang, bang. Just keeping his opponent on his toes, in and out of his opponents range whilst oppening up a variety of shots to the head and body. All because of a small side step in either dirrection. Your simply manipulating your opponents balance and without balance you have no power.

I'll comment on some more later G, i like what ive seen, like i say this is all an opinion. Good job though, some skilled athletes in your gym by the looks of it.

Super comments Winky.

Some of what has been said so far has been picked up on after these fights (they were in June 07) Luke w has been working hard on his inside game and now boxes inside very much like Hatton as you have stated. Maybe have to get the photo of Luke with ricky blown up for his next fight to remind him

Lewis is still very young and to be perfectly honest that was one of the worst fights I have seen him in. I am waitting for a copy of a DVD from a show 4 weeks before that one, were Lewis opened the show for the Gleann Gym in an Ireland vs England friendly compo for charity. Now that was a much better fight. I think the opponent in Lewis' fight was actually 2 or 3 weights above him as well. He his hard to find apponents for due to his size, age and weight.

Keep the comments comming guys, I'll wait till next week befoer I print them all out and take them down to the gym.

Once again guys and I can't say this enough Thanks for your time.

We have some top class coaches in the gym, Old school trainers (Herbie) and 2 brothers Alio and Sam Wilton. Sam in his day was a sparring partner for most of the big named heavyweights, Harrison, Bruno, Tyson and Eubank to name a few. Alio has an emornous amateur career with I'm sure over 200 fights easy. And an average professional career, due to family commitments. (but even with a great team in the gym we can't pick up everything that the boxers need to work on as there is over 50 Ama's / thats were you guys come in and really help us out, by taking time to watch the videos and point out what it is you can see)

Over the years Eastside / Ledley Hall have produced many great amateur boxers and a quite a few journeymen pro's. The problem with the pro's in years gone by was that they really fought for their love of the sport and the money. They didn't concentrate on titles or records, ie/ they never minded losing if they were beaten fairly.

One example is Daffyd Carlin, the press always seemed to run him down as a failed pro but when you look at who he actually fought and took the distance there are some big names there, Alex Arthur, Willie Limond, Ross Minter and Peter McDonagh.

Now with the pro's we have today we hope to work hard on making them champions of the future, seeing as we are now able to run our own shows locally with the assistance of Belfast Promotions (run by Jane Wilton, Alio's wife). We no longer have to rely on getting fights on the mainland were the Belfast based boxers were being used to bump up "so to speak" the opponents records, due to travel, weight changes, etc.

Wee publicity plug there

And Again Cheers guys

Cory - I think he dominated this fight, outside and inside, he looked stronger, faster, more conditioned and just a better boxer than his opponent. Again, i would say he should have kept distance more often and just outboxed his opponent which he was easily capable of doing, to me he turned it into a fight at times where he just didn't have to.

One other thing is that when he threw the straight right hand he almost always brought his right foot forward leaving him square on or southpaw, he then stayed this way until he backed away or tied up. Now maybe he is comfortable in a southpaw stance or square on but to me the first rule is to stick to your natural stance because;
1) balance.
2) your so much easier to counter square on, you open up a whole nother side to your body.
3) your guard may get muddled up, change in position of hands.
4) an orthadox fighter would be neglecting their right hand (stongest hand) because you turn southpaw it now becomes a jab, when your opponent is on the ropes or your attacking them you want to do as much damage as possible, with my right hand as my lead it won't be as affective, for me.
5) Loss of power, you won't generate alot of power if your square on.

He did well though, like i said, he clearly won and thats the main thing.

Scott - Like seer said, more jabs, he is southpaw aswell so use that JAB!!!
He looks a powerful lad. I think the opponent did very well though, kept circling to his left, keeping away from the big left lead. He new what he was doing and again it's now up to Scott to say "hang on, im going to dictate where you go"
I didn't see that from him, he seemed content with just waiting for that knockout punch. When his opponent came right throw the straight left hand, then right uppercut or hook to the body. Southpaws are designed to be a pain in the arse, make it so.

Carla - I thought it was a great fight. I don't have much to say. She did most things right. To give her something to work on if i had to it would be timing, get her on the pads and time those punches as a few too many went missing at times.

Michael H - Good scrap again alot of heart. Tough fight, his opponent was dead set on backing him up, so don't let him. If you don't keep the distance then be sure to push em back, give them something to think about, you need to say if you fight on the outside i'll jab your head off, if you fight on the inside i'll drive you back. Work the body more, i would say constantly work it, all his opponent wanted to do was get in close, you got to make him think again, punnish his body. He has also got to spin his opponent more often, he let him charge him into the ropes, as soon as you feel the ropes use his momentum and spin him. Cory demonstrated it perfectly in his fight at one time.

Tony - Needs to keep his chin down, don't lean back, stand tall but chin tucked in. Keep his elbows tight to the body aswell they seemed to flair out at times. Also when his opponent tied him up he was giving it some in the clinch, don't let him do that son, get your head into his chest and tie his arms up. If that don't work knee him in the balls....

Good heart though, if he does the above he will look a whole lot prettier which also helps influence the ref's decision at times.

Again Winky Cheers for taking the time to reply.

no problem. I enjoy watching.

I spend every weekend in Ballymena as thats where my girlfriend lives, I should drive up to Belfast one Sat and pop in and see you guys.