Magnificent seven for TKO

Johnny Eames and the Champions TKO team are celebratinng a superb start to the new boxing year, with a string of seven successes.

Having secured new premises for their gym, their growing stable has produced the goods in the ring, with four fighters in winning action at York Hall on January 30.

Antonio Counihan gave a superb performance to start his opponent in the third round and has been promised an eight-rounder in Liverpool on March 20, with a possible MBC International title shot later.

Tasif Khan shook off the rust to win in just 65 seconds and will also appear in Liverpool, while Onder and Siar Ozgul both celebrated thrilling wins.

Eames said: “What a great start to the year for the Champions TKO boys.

“The fight of the night was our Onder’s, a real barnstormer, all-action and at a high pace as per usual.

“This kid’s ready to move onto six-rounders now, like Siar, who did his first six-rounder, again a cracking fight by all accounts.

“Everyone was so pleased with his performance on the night. It sounds like he’s learned to judge his pace now, rather than go hammer and tongs for the whole six rounds, he paced himself nicely for the full six rounds.”

Charlie Martin made his debut the following night, as Tommy Martin fought for an English title at the O2 Arena.

Eames added: “Charlie, what can I say? He was tremendous.

“For a kid having his professional debut, I was so impressed with his attitude and professionalism. He never wavered from what he had to do and the occasion never got to him.

“When he got in the ring he was nice and cool, listened to every word that Brian (O’Shaughnessy) said.

“I told him he didn’t have to impress, because he’s very good anyway. It was an absolutely perfect match for his first fight, not a walkover that some of the big names get.

“He was a very tough kid, who came to fight and really believed he could win, which played right into Charlie’s hands.

“The kid got a systematic beating from round one to four, but that doesn’t take away from the kid’s own effort, because he was really trying and then Charlie caught him good with about six seconds to go and that was it.

“It was just unbelievable, I was just so impressed with Charlie.”

Martin had walked into the TKO gym two and a half years earlier as an 18-year-old and Eames admitted he took a bit of a gamble onm him.

But he is delighted to see his fighter making strides, adding: “I told his dad before his first fight, that I’d guarantee him 10 wins and then I’ll let him off the lead.

“We delivered from our end, we got him 10 out of 10, but I was nervous going into the fight, having trained his opponent, Ricky Boylan, previously.

“Ricky is a tough kid and thought he may outman Tommy, but it was totally the other way round, Tommy outmanned him.”

Martin slowed around the sixth round, which caused a few brief worries for Eames, but dug deep to claim a 99-92, 97-93, 97-93 victory.

Eames said: “I can honestly say I think Tommy only lost two rounds, perhaps one or two could have been shared, but that would be being kind to Ricky, that’s how much Tommy dominated the fight.

“Fair play to Ricky he never stopped coming, as we knew he would, but for me Ricky didn’t have enough movement, he was moving his head when out of range but wasn’t when he needed to.”

Mickey O’Rourke completed TKO’s magnificent seven with victory on his debut, having sold 220 tickets before his fight.

More supporters turned up on the night to back O’Rourke and certainly made their presence felt.

Eames said: “They were great, very, very boisterous, they made it a great night for him.

“Mickey was a bit nervous in the first round, but once he got back to the corner Brian sorted him out.”

‘ORourke was awarded a 40-36 win, with his rival holding on at the end.

Eames added: “In fairness the kid came up to me after the fight and said ‘Johnny sorry, but if I didn’t hold him, he’d have stopped me.’

“I’m happy with that, he was just doing his job and I think Mickey learned a lot from the fight.

“The fans loved it, the first round was a bit nervy but the next three rounds were exciting. Mickey’s going to be a crowd-pleasing fighter, there’s no two ways about it, and I’m glad to be part of his journey.”

O’Rourke had fought as an amateur at Dale Youth and will be back in the ring on March 21, with Eames adding: “I hope all the fans that attended come again, as he needs all the support he can get. Without ticket sales the journey stops and this kid is too good for that to happen.

“What can I say? Fantastic results for all the boys and Champions TKO, seven out of seven. You can’t get better than that, hopefully we’ve set the trend for 2015.”