THERE has been terrific Denbigh success at a North Wales boxing show.

Caernarfon Boxing Club hosted an excellently run boxing show under the Welsh Amateur Boxing Association (WABA) governing body.

It featured boxers from clubs at Caernarfon, Holyhead, Llangefni, Llandudno, Colwyn Bay, Denbigh, Rhyl, Buckley and West Wirral.

Two talented Denbigh boxers - Jac Hughes and Cai Murphy - were matched against opponents from Llangefni and Holyhead.

Jac, 15, who has been eagerly awaiting his debut fight since he started boxing 18 months ago, weighed in at exactly 64kg, as expected.

Disappointingly, his Llangefni opponent was unable to make weight, resulting in the bout being cancelled.

However, this meant that Jac could fully support his stable mate Cai, 16, who was matched for his debut at 66kg against Holyhead and Anglesey boxer Austin Murphy, 17.

Both boxers shared not just the same surname, but also the same orthodox stance and burning desire to win their first fight.

Austin, the taller of the two, put Cai under pressure from the opening bell.

Cai, representing Denbigh & District Boxing Club in the red corner, was able to weather the initial storm and threw a good variety of punches to the body and head, catching Austin with clean shots during most exchanges.

Austin tried to capitalise on his age, weight and range advantage by keeping his distance and exerting the same pressure during the second round, but Cai was able to negate much of it by slipping or blocking punches and landing a range of punches of his own from different angles.

Having found his range early on, Cai’s effective counterpunching allowed him to change the ring dynamics in his favour and not only started to beat Austin to the jab despite being the shorter boxer, but it also meant that he was now landing series of accurate punches.

Going into the third round there was still no sign of Austin slowing, proving his high level of fitness, but as Cai continued to match his workrate and repeatedly connect accurately with several combinations, the referee gave Austin a standing eight count.

Able to box on, Austin came forward strongly, knowing that he was running out of time.

Cai stayed focused and true to his style until the referee had no option but to stop the flow of accurate punches by giving Austin another standing eight count, which ended simultaneously with the final bell.

Cai Murphy was declared the unanimous winner of this fair, high-paced and entertaining display of technical boxing.

“Austin was relentless and proved a very tough first contest for Cai," said Cai's co-trainer Peter Mackie.

"Cai did the whole club proud, he boxed excellently!

"I can’t wait for Jac to have his first contest.”

Nathan Hanika, Cai’s other co-trainer, added: “Much of the technical work we have been practising he was able to transfer into the ring in his first fight, and against such a strong opponent he showed experience well beyond that of a novice competitive boxer.

"He certainly has a bright future.”

Denbigh & District Boxing Club train at Myddelton College every Monday and Wednesday from 6.45pm.

For more details, contact Nathan Hanika on 07776 202855 or Peter Mackie on 07763 389153.