Two excellent performances with mixed results for two Malmesbury Boxers at the National Novice Semi-Finals today.

Kyle Bains recovered from a tough first round to produce some classy footwork and punch power to win a unanimous decision against Henry Pretorious from Oxford.

Kyle's footwork and body movement was impressive and he really is developing into a class act.

Kyle will now face Stevenage's Oliver Culling in the final.

Jacob Liddington had a very tough contest against the heavier and physically bigger James Martin from Sting ABC ( Croydon) .

Martin had a powerful right hand which Jacob did well to avoid in the first and Martin probably just edged.

In the second, Jacob came back strongly adjusting his tactics to the opponent in front of him and took the round.

In the third, Jacob really settled into the bout and it became an all-action contest. Jacob had his opponent in trouble catching him with two cracking shots on the ropes and it was unfortunate that at this point, Martin was given some recovery time to replace his head guard.

Upon resumption of the bout both boxers , knowing it was close, went to war and Jacob traded shots with his opponent to the final bell.

It was a split decision verdict, unfortunately in favour of Martin, but we are extremely proud of the performances of both Jacob and Kyle today.