History is made by proud Katie (From Dorset Echo)

History is made by proud Katie

9:20am Saturday 20th March 2010 in

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ALAN Slaney believes ladies’ boxing will thrive in Bridport after Katie Rendell made history at Freshwater Beach Holiday Park.

Rendell became the first woman ever to represent Bridport Amateur Boxing Club when she locked horns with Poole ABC’s Amy Shirley.

And though Rendell was gallantly defeated on points, the transfixed spectators were unanimous in their verdict that this experiment should become a permanent addition to future bonanzas.

Coach Slaney said: “Katie did Bridport proud in her first bout. She got beaten but put up a hard contest and it was a great fight.

“I went round every table and asked what they thought about the ladies’ boxing and they all loved it. It proved very popular and I’m glad it went down well.

“We have got quite a lot of ladies at the gym and they deserve their opportunity to show what they can do. I’ll look to get one or two more on the bill for our next night.”

In total, six Bridport boxers took to the canvas, with youngsters Liam Middleton, Nick Gosney and Craig Holder all making their in-ring debuts.

John Plyer completed the contingent and, despite a clean sweep of defeats for the hosts, those in attendance more than received value for money on a pulsating evening.

Organiser Slaney undertook an extraordinary amount of work behind the scenes to make the night a success after being beset by problems in the build up.

Illness had spread through the club and decimated the number of scheduled bouts but the Bridport coach managed to scramble together 15 fights of considerable quality.

Slaney explained: “I had about 20 bouts lined up the Monday before the event but we lost nine or so during the week. You expect to lose a couple, but not nine.

“When things like illness strike there’s not much you can do about it but we got away with it and those who did fight did Bridport proud.

“It was a learning curve for our boxers. Doing it in front of their home crowd made it difficult in some ways, but they received great support all night and the Bridport people really got behind them.

“I’d like to thank the staff at Freshwater and trainer Ashley Rousell. Everybody went home smiling and that’s all that matters.

“All the teams that came down from places like Eastleigh and Plymouth told me they loved it. I say roll on November because our next fight night is going to be even better.”