STEVE Travanti was the big winner on Cambridgeshire Police Boxing Club’s marquee night at the Burgess Hall.

STEVE Travanti was the big winner on Cambridgeshire Police Boxing Club’s marquee night at the Burgess Hall.

The 28-year-old made up for the disappointment of enduring a skills bout in last year’s show with an impressive win over Sam Mendes (Wellingborough ABC), and was named the best winning boxer of the night too.

The Cambridgeshire Police Boxing Dinner show, now in its 24th year, was attended by around 300 guests and raised more than �1,200 in association with Huntingdon Cromwell Rotary Club.

Travanti showed composure to dispose of an opponent who could not match his style or technique, and occasionally found himself drawn into a scrappy contest, before turning the screw in the third to take a unanimous decision.

It was a good night all round for Campol, with five of the eights home boxers winning their bouts.

Coach Mick Taylor said: “Steve was very impressive in his victory against an opponent who could have hurt him, but controlled the fight well and the longer it went on, the better he looked.

“All our lads showed high levels of skill and energy, and really gave the crowd their best. They’ve been training hard, and it was their chance to perform in front of their home crowd.”

Another boxer frustrated by a late withdrawal last year, Alex Pearman, made full use of his height advantage against Alan Marriss (Benny’s ABC, Nottingham) in the first two rounds. Marriss stepped up the tempo in the third, but left it too late to prevent Pearman taking a unanimous decision.

Liam Melanie was beaten on a majority decision by Albert Gregory (Royston ABC), who used his shorter stature to break up and through Melanie’s defence repeatedly with a thunderous right hand.

Earlier, Toby Herbert had got the ball rolling with the night’s first home win, starting confidently and controlling until the final bell end in his unanimous win over Matt Purcell (Wellingborough BC).

Youngster Mark Bond was on the wrong end of the unanimous decision against Dylan Whale (Royston), lacking the stamina to match his combat his opponent’s relentless jab, but had the consolation of being named the night’s best losing boxer.

Lewis Grant got the majority nod against the southpaw Todd Tompkins (Kettering) in an entertaining battle of the debutants. Tompkins asked questions with a penetrating left, but after a frantic opening round, Grant’s superior technique told.

Sergio Pita contested three heavy-hitting rounds with Sam Hill (Dereham), putting his opponent down in the second after a slip, but found himself on the back foot too often in the final round as he went down unanimously.

Campol’s Ryan Adair took a quick win over Kieran Gatehouse, who retired injured early in the first round, while Todd Davidson (Kingfisher ABC) beat Anthony May (Benny’s ABC).