RYAN Toms gave Hayes Amateur Boxing Club a major reason to celebrate after clinching the light middleweight title at the Haringey Police and Community Boxing Club's first multi national three-day open tournament.
Toms was one of a trio of Hayes men fighting at the Alexandra Palace and after drawing a bye to the 71kg semi-finals the southpaw took on Ali Zaki of Portsmouth University.
Toms dictated the bout and boxed well within himself to take a points win before in the finals a day later, he faced Israrullum Yaqobzai of the powerful Repton club in Bethnal Green.
The Hayes man boxed behind his jab and moved well early on before starting to stand his ground and a picture perfect left to Yaqobzai's chin gave Toms the knockout win of the tournament as well as the title.
Clubmate Darren Mckenna was entered in a highly competitive 75kg middleweight division and in the quarter-finals he landed numerous powerful body shots to register a points win over Pat Sheenan of the Sheerness club in Kent.
His semi-final opponent, Brian Cook of the Miguel's club in Brixton, had stopped his previous opponent in the first round and although Mckenna started well behind the jab he got dragged into a slugfest and after taking a couple of counts in the third round he lost the bout on points.
Elvis Mondombo completed the trio and with so few competitors in the youth 64kg light welterweight division he received a bye into the final against Islington Boxing Club's Jose Moreno.
Mandombo had to cut down the ring against a mobile opponent, who has been a junior ABA finalist, and in the second round the Hayes boxer rocked Moreno a couple of times with powerful right hands but he was not able to capitalise and the Islington boxer recovered well to take a points decision.
