Talented light welterweight Ben Rees-Davies pushed Team England golden boy Mason ‘Smasher’ Smith to the edge last night with many at ringside of the opinion that the Cardigan man should have been awarded the point’s decision and not Smith.
Ben was understandably disappointed after the fight, which took place near Winchester, as he thought he might have been given the nod by the judges and told Sportsline:
” I genuinely thought I had done just enough to win my bout with my coach saying I was winning every round. We had a game plan and we stuck to it and it worked well. It was close I’m not going to deny that but I felt the cleaner landing shots were coming from me.
“ I knew he was strong so I had to use my hand speed and footwork to precision, hitting him with 2-3 shots and moving off the angle so he didn’t have the chance to counter me with his big shots. And it worked well I don’t recall him landing any big shots and I don’t have a mark on my face”.
Ben though was understandably upbeat despite the loss, especially to a boxer that looks as if he is going places and who likes to tell everyone too and he added:
“I thought it was a decent performance yet again and I have to be pleased as I keep improving every time I step into the ring.
“To just lose out to England’s up and coming golden boy who is known to be the biggest puncher at light welter in the country is not so bad and I take no shame for my display of boxing last night.
“ I will take it on the chin and get back in the gym and concentrate on my next contest which will be in Berlin at the end of June against a Germany international team.”
It was a great night for the Army team who won five of the eight bouts against a ‘Team England’ that included many of the top amateurs in the country.