KOKORO Kickboxing Club held another successful fight night at a packed Hyndburn Sports Centre.

The event, which was predominantly boxing bouts, saw junior and senior boxers take to the ring watched by more than 400 spectators at the Accrington venue.

While there was plenty of local pride at stake - with the majority of clubs involved coming from East Lancashire - there were several area and minor national titles up for grabs.

Ash Idiens of Kokoro topped the bill when he took on Leicester’s Jake Sykes for the TFS English Heavyweight title.

The pair had fought in the Midlands earlier in the year with Sykes stopping the Accrington man inside the distance.

While the result was the same second time around, this time Idiens restored some pride, narrowly losing on points.

Kokoro clubmate Seb Denwood took his unbeaten record to eight fights after he stopped Luke Ashton from Liverpool to win the TFS English Middleweight title.

But it wasn’t plain sailing for the Accrington man who recovered from a first round knock down to stop his opponent in the second.

And while Sam Clarke lost his TFS Light Middleweight English title bout to Liverpool’s Andy Webb, he used the fight to raise funds to pay for treatment for young cancer sufferer, Charlie Proctor, six, from Church.

Kokoro Kickboxing Club teammates, Stephen Ashworth and James Palmer, climbed in the ring together in a charity bout to raise awareness of local mental health issues.

And in what was one of the more exciting fights of the night, Palmer, who also helped run the event, emerged victorious just two months short of his 50th birthday.

Jimmy Roberts (Kokoro) then took on Scott Flanagan (Rossendale) in a contest that appeared to be going all the way until Roberts landed a thunderous body shot to stop the Valley man.

Kara Lees from Swansea took on a fight at short notice when she stepped in with Kokoro’s dangerous Lauren Walker and her long trip from South Wales ended with a first round knockout.

And Kokoro fighter Kurt Quinn from Blackburn won unanimously on points against Simon Grant from Nottingham.

The show began with a number of junior contests.

First up was young Abdulla Mohammed, who gave away both weight and age in his first ever bout and the six-year-old narrowly lost in a close contest. Abdulla fought very courageously and showed tremendous promise for the future.

There was a total of 11 junior bouts, with fighters aged from seven to 16-years-old in action with eight local fighters victorious.

There were three outstanding contests.

Harley Foster, seven, (Kokoro) from Accrington took on Isaac Simm (Wigan) in an action-packed contest resulting in a very close win for the East Lancs youngster.

In an all-Blackburn affair, Joe O’Hare, 13, (Blackburn Kickboxing) and Callum Wilson (Ramsey’s) went toe-to-toe in an all-out contest that included three knockdowns before the referee stepped in to stop proceedings with O’Hare victorious.

And Tyree Holden from Blackburn, also known as the ‘Kokoro Kid’ fought for the TFS Northern are title and beat Harry Openshaw from Wigan in a unanimous decision.

As well as the host club, other East Lancs clubs to take part were Padiham Kickboxing Club, Ramsey’s KB, Blackburn KB and Rossendale

Clubs to travel further afield included Respect Thai Kickboxing, Leicester, The Martial Arts Studio, Liverpool, Aiki Kickboxing, Newcastle, T6terriers, Stoke-on-Trent, Blundells from Wigan, Swansea KB and United Martial Arts Academy, Malton.

The event was organised by Kokoro coaches James Palmer, Saleem Holden, Philip Blackmore and Davis Camara.

Camara, who was also a referee on the night, said: “The show went fantastically well and there was a great turnout. All the fights were very competitive and involved many of our local clubs with a massive age range from just six years through to 50 years, many of which raised money for chosen charities.

“But as as well as the local clubs, we were delighted to see so many others travel from further afield to take part.”