Ryan Gaffney won back the Western Counties 80kg title when Mayflower ABC hosted their first show under the guidance of coaches including veteran professional Chris Adaway on Sunday.

Gaffney had already won and lost a Western Counties strap, but regained the belt with a ‘masterclass’ performance according to his coach Adaway, against Falmouth’s Kaiden Symons at Agaton Social Club.

The title contest was top of the bill on a 16-bout card which showed the full range of Mayflower ABC boxing talent, from 11-year-old Lily Hill in her first skills bout, to a number of senior contests.

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James Payne was also vying for a Western Counties strap, and faced a 3x3-minute bout at the 71kg level against Spencer Poole of Blue Flames boxing gym in Taunton.

But Payne was unable to defeat the visitor losing on a split decision, while Raph Ahmed, who was also scheduled for a Western Counties contest, had to pull out due to illness.

The show was the first for Mayflower ABC ‘in years’ said Adaway, who co-organised the evening with brother Steven White and fellow coaches Eric Sprangle and Corey Marshall.

Adaway told Herald Sport: “It was amazing – such a good afternoon. Every single ticket went, the place was rammed, and every bout was entertaining. Everyone I talked to said it was amazing.”

Adaway said the main event proved worthy of the billing.

He said: “Ryan Gaffney was the main event and he boxed absolutely amazing – he took on Kaiden Symons from Falmouth. Kaiden had beaten Ryan a couple of months ago on a Devonport show so it was a rematch, and Ryan won unanimously.

“What we are going to try and do is to get him [Gaffney] three defences really fast as we want to put him into the Elite Championships this year, and once you have fought in the Elite Championships you can’t box for the Western Counties any more.

“He has already been given a title challenge on February 15 in Bideford, so he has got to fight a guy in Bideford to keep it. He really put on a masterclass.”

The evening also saw Adaway’s son Reuben feature in his first skills bout at the age of 11, with a competitive contest against Devonport ABC’s Harrison McGregor-Jones.

Involving three 90-second rounds, skills bouts are aimed at giving young boxers a taste of competitive action, but without a ‘winner’ announced at the end.

Adaway explained: “My son ended up boxing on the show – he had his first-ever skills bout. I sort of chucked him in the deep end really as he wasn’t meant to be boxing, but the night before we had a pullout and I thought we could get him on and so we matched him against a Devonport kid. It was a really competitive bout in the end.”

Another young boxer aged 11, Lily Hill, opened the show with another skills contest against Georgia Alcott of Frome, with both girls faring well.

Mayflower’s Izzy Sheppard, who has four kickboxing bouts under her belt, then made her debut in the boxing ring against the more experienced Ashleigh Newton, who travelled from the Midlands.

While Sheppard showed undoubted talent, it was Newton, from Walsall, who prevailed on points.

Mayflower’s Aleks Lisenko took on Max Collard of Salisbury, but saw corner throw in the towel after he took some heavy shots, while Lexi Sprangle came out with a barrage of punches against Macie Carr (Mackenzies ABC) but was unable to keep up her frenetic pace and lost on points.

With contests stepping up to Youth level, Crystal Pollock, in the home corner, suffered a points reverse against Camborne’s Tegan Luscombe.

But there was a win for 16-year-old debutant Max Jones, who won unanimously on points in an all-Plymouth contest against Alfie Fearon of Legends ABC.

The first senior bout of the evening saw Mayflower ABC’s Hasnain Ali win uanimously against Torbay ABC’s Euane Hale.

Next up was Harry Robins, who faced a rematch against Bideford’s David Quinn, with Robins having already beaten his opponent once. But Robins, in the home corner, was unable to repeat the feat, and lost unanimously.

Torbay’s Harry Morley was the opponent for Mayflower ABC’s Sam Wisdom, who notched up another win for the home corner with a unanimous points verdict.

Then followed a thriller of a contest, with Will Trevaskus knocking down opponent Paul Holland down in the first round.

But to his credit, the visitor from Salisbury ABC got straight back up and continued, though was unable to avoid a unanimous points defeat.

The bouts kept coming, with Leo Harris winning unanimously against Crewkerne’s Harry Whatley, while Harvey Roberts lost a split decision against Edward Tabor, also from Salisbury ABC.

Adaway said the show was such a success that he is already aiming to hold another event in April if it can be organised.

He said: “It was strange at our show because normally its busy for some bouts but not busy for all of them – but the whole show was packed the whole way through.”

“We are already looking at April 5-6 to do another show,” he added.

“It’s only nine weeks away, but there has been a show cancelled in the Western Counties, and we are looking at taking their place.

“We might have another title fight, but I just think it’s really nice for the boxers to fight at home in front of their friends and family, and to get to do it twice in such a short space of time would be amazing for them.”