Finchley Amateur Boxing Club will have to wait another year to claim an elusive winner’s medal at the National Junior ABA Championships after their three fighters suffered defeats.

The finals were held in Mansfield on Sunday and in action first for Finchley was Zac Chaima in the under-57kg competition.

He faced off against Dalton Smith from Steel City ABC. Both fighters are counter punchers and were patient in the opening round. Chaima appeared the busier of the two boxers in the second round leading off with flurries of punches before moving out of range.

The contest would be settled in the third round. Both youngsters boxed in bursts and it was a tough choice to select a winner. Unfortunately for Finchley fighter Chaima, the points decision was given to Smith.

Finchley’s Mason Smith, who has excelled throughout the championships in the under-60kg category, took on Sahir Iqbal. For the first two rounds, Smith forced the pace and, although he appeared to be gaining the upper hand, the effort required was taking its toll.

The last round was even with punches thrown by both boys but Iqbal’s long-range shots were eye catching and probably helped shade the points decision in his favour.

At under-66kg Eunnis Chaima could consider himself extremely unfortunate to suffer a defeat on points against Walsall Wood ABC competitor Daniel Breeze.

Chaima started the contest slowly but stepped up his work rate considerably in the second, rocking Breeze’s head back with hard right hands.

The third round saw both fighters going toe-to-toe but most of the big head shots were came from Chaima.

However, he wasn’t adjudged to have done enough and Breeze was awarded the points decision.

There were also several other Finchley fighters in action over the weekend. Junior boxer Shane Hill took on Riley Smith but suffered a points defeat, while schoolboy Darren Redmond, in only his fourth bout for the club, came out on top via a points decision against Jack Silk.

Senior Finchley fighter Renik Joseph has had a stop-start season due to injuries but showed his class by comfortably out-boxing James Beaumont. Ossie Jervier had a hard-fought battle against Lympstone ABC’s Ollie Kitchen and was beaten on points.

Finchley heavyweight Temour Djavojan dislocated his shoulder in the first round of his bout but after it popped back in he appeared to be winning the contest. However, the referee stopped the fight once he realised the extent of the injury.

There was sad news for Finchley as the club mourned the loss of former head coach Jimmy Oliver, who passed away on Sunday after losing his battle with a debilitating illness.

Despite repeated hospital stays and painful treatment Oliver, who also boxed for the club as a youngster, continued in his role as a coach and visited the club on Wednesday, May 22.