FUSION nightclub hosted a first last Friday night as the crowds gathered to watch a spectacular amateur boxing event, put on by Ledbury Amateur Boxing Club’s coaches Fred and Helen Florence.

“Originally we had thought of doing it as a dinner show,” explained Fred. “But we decided that an open show with some VIP tables was the best idea for the venue and what we wanted to achieve from the night.”

With a couple of hundred people in attendance, it was clear that the event was a huge success and something the couple are keen to put on again.

“We had been looking for a while to do something like this and it was actually one of the bouncers who used to box with us that suggested doing it here.

"We had a chat with RossTyler, Fusion’s manager, who was very keen and here we are.

"We wanted to put a show on for the people of Hereford who don’t always get the opportunity to come and have a good night watching some of the outstanding young talent from around the country.”

With the VIP tables booked out within an hour and with a big attendance, it was clearly a good decision by the nightclub to host the event and manager Tyler is keen for a repeat.

“Planning for the event started October time last year, so we had plenty of time to get the set-up and the logistics right and it’s paid off with such a fantastic evening tonight," he said. "Fred and Helen have been absolutely spot on with organising it, I haven’t had to worry about the fighting side of it and they’ve done a great job.

"We had talked about doing it as a quarterly event and with the success we’ve had tonight I certainly see this carrying on.”

It wasn’t just Tyler who was pleased with way the event had been carried, a number of the boxing club’s that took part were quick to praise the hard work shown by the Florences in putting on the event, including Ludlow coach Colin Woodfield.

“It’s a fantastic idea," he said. "It’s great to get the lads some experience in a big venue like this. It’s been great fun and it’s the way the lads get recognised throughout the sport.

"They’ve got to do the club shows to be able to do the championship bouts and to keep pushing forward; so a big heads-up to Fred and Helen for putting such a top event on this evening.”

Some of the fighters on the night are likely to be pushing for those championship bouts very soon as the standard of boxing was of the highest quality across the board.

One of the more exciting young fighters on the night was Kingsheath Boxing Club’s Jimmy Smith.

Smith, at just 13, was the youngest fighter on the card but was dominant in winning his fight against Michael O’Toole (William Perry Boxing Club) and was thrilled to have put in such a good performance in his first major show.

“It was brilliant, I’m really happy to be here and show my club and my family just what I can do," he said. "It was a tough fight but I felt that I had better hand speed than Michael and that’s what gave me the edge..

Smith’s club Kingsheath came away from the night with a 100% success rate as their three boxers all came away with victories, something coach Arthur Daly was very proud of.

“It’s brilliant; the boys have given everything tonight and done themselves proud," he said. "It’s a fair distance to come in this weather but the boys haven’t let that affect them and I couldn’t be more proud of them.

"It’s a great venue, great event tonight and every boxer has put on a great show, it’s been fantastic.”