Super King into last four

Perry King

BOXING:

PERRY King was in terrific form as he overpowered Sunderland rival Ambrose Burnside to book his place in the National ABA junior semi-finals.

King (18), saw all five ringside judges hand him a unanimous points decision over the four rounds. He now he moves to Birmingham on Saturday, where he will take on Lenny Evans from Shrewsbury in the 63.5kg category semi-finals.

Northside ABC ace King said: “To be honest I’m over the moon because I’d been suffering with the ’flu in the run-up to the fight. I wasn’t 100 per cent fit, but I boxed really well and dominated the fight.

“Burnside had to take a standing count in the second round.

“I’m fully fit again now, so hopefully I can box even better this weekend in Birmingham. I’ll need to.”

Sadly there were frustrating defeats at Cedar Mount for King’s fellow Oldhamers Jack Rafferty and Will Cawley.

Rafferty, aged 17 and a Northside stable-mate of King’s, lost by three points in his quarter-final clash against Sunderland’s Isaac Newton in the 63-67kg class.

There was acute disappointment for Cawley against North-East champion Joe Wilson in the 48kg category. The Oldham hopeful was beaten in controversial circumstances.

Despite commanding the contest with some super long-range straight punches, the judges decreed otherwise gave the match to Wilson.