Ben "The Bull" Bendle beats London ABA Champion and books place in JABA National Semi Final.

Ben Bendle through to the quarter finals of the Junior ABA title

H.O.P Boxer Ben "The Bull" Bendle booked his place into this years JABA Semi Final (South) with a very comfortable win against this years London Middleweight Champion Jason Maughan (Body Shots ABC) on Saturday 11th May 2013 at Feltham College, London.

The bout was slow to get started with Maughan looking to trigger Bendle to lead off, however the experienced Bendle, picked his punches and time to attack, ensuring not to be drawn into a counter punch trap situation.

The second round, Bendle upped the pace, using his fast feet, feints and trigger tactics to score and draw the London Champion into an exchange.

In the last round Bendle pushed his opponent back, using straight punches, coming off the jab and finishing with fast shots to head and body, to secure his unanimous point's win of all 5 of the ABA judges.

Bendle now moves forward to the JABA Semi Finals and faces the Western Counties/ Home Counties ABA Champion Tom Barter from Tewkesbury Amateur Boxing Club.

H.O.P's fast developing boxer Tom Johnson had it all to do against the experience and talented London Champion Zak Chelli (Dale Youth ABC). Johnson on only his 12th bout put in a very good performance, matching Chelli blow to blow however the experience of the London Champion started to show through, as the bout went on and Chelli won on a unanimous decision of the judges.

H.O.P Senior Head Coach Colin Williams and Coach Jason Evans were very proud of the boxers and their performance at the Quarter final stage of the national championships.

H.O.P Boss - "Q" Shillingford said all boxers did very well against good opposition, these championships are very tough and the London Champions are always going to be a hard round. Tom Johnson has only been with the club 4 months but what he has achieved is astronomical in the short space of time, he is definitely one for the future. Ben is firing on all cylinders, his preparation for these championships have been spot on, but the main strength of Ben Bendle is that he listens to what he is told by his coaches and acts on the information given. "Q" added it is a team effort at H.O.P all the coaches have an input in the boxers, I would like to thank Colin Williams and Jason Evans for the great work they are doing. To see Tom and Ben doing so well at National level is a credit to there hard work.

JABA Semi Final taking place on Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th May 2013

The Heart of Portsmouth Boxing Academy

Charter Sports Centre

Greetham Street

Portsmouth

PO5 4HL

Door Open at 11:30, Boxing Starts at 12:30

Tickets on the door - £5 for U16 and £10 for 16+