THE only sign of a crunch at the Waltham Forest Amateur Boxing Club’s annual dinner show at the Prince Regent Hotel on Friday night was fortunately saved for the ring.

There were no signs of the current financial downturn, as even more tables were sold than last year with over 260 people packed into the Woodford Bridge venue to enjoy a lavish night of hard-hitting boxing.

Clearly taking inspiration from David Haye’s recent heavyweight title win over Nikolai Valuev, pint-sized puncher Sam Gilley put in a real gutsy display against the lofty Chelmsley Wood fighter James Curtis.

Using good footwork the Forest youngster kept himself out of range during the three round contest, while also landing some stinging shots, including a fearsome left hook in the second.

And that not only proved good enough to secure the judges’ verdict, but it also earned Gilley the ‘Home Boxer’ of the night award at the end of the evening.

Abdul Samad Fazil was next up for the boys in green and he looked to be heading for a clear victory as he battered Times’ Michael McDonagh with some powerful shots in the first two sessions.

McDonagh turned the tables, though, in the final round to not only leave the home boxer inspecting the refs’ fingers for a standing eight count, but also to see the judges’ verdict go against him.

Forest’s Charles Mc-Cormack then found himself out-pointed in the fourth bout, as Times’ Billy Williams proved just too tough. Once more the home fighter received a standing eight count in the last round.

Next up for the home club was 15-year-old Tyler Nejat, who produced a plucky performance against Epsom’s Charlie Eastwood. Both boxers gave their all in an excellent bout, although having been caught in the third, Nejat received a standing eight count, which would ultimately see the decision go against him.

Seniors Danny Gower and Simon Wright were the next couple of home fighters to grace the canvas, but unfortunately the pair lost out to Tom Daniels (Peacock) and Kamel Raji (Fairburn) respectively.

The night, however, finished on a high for the men in green as Glenn Leigh roared to victory in a very physical contest with South Oxhey’s Reece Belloti.

Both fighters landed with some cracking shots, but Leigh just about did enough to get the nod from the judges.

Forest’s senior coach Chris Baker said: “Of course we would have liked a few more winners on the night, but it was a great show and the quality of boxing was very high.

“I would like to thank everyone for their hard work and support in putting together the evening, especially the Furlong brothers and our secretary Ian Cuddy.”

Also fighting on the same show was Fyfield teenager Casey O’Riordan. The Newham boxer, who had to produce arguably one of the best performances of his fledgling career, just edged a very close contest against Chelmsley Wood’s Jack Marsh, to the delight of his large support. Other winners on the night included Vittel Riley (Newham) and John Chris McDonagh (Stowe), who secured wins against Craig Bonney (Trinity) and George Moughton respectively.