Sheffield fighter wins - then gets schooled!

Sheffield's Naphtali Nembhard was a clear winner on points over Stainforth's Jack Bray at the Magna Centre, Rotherham on Friday.

The Doncaster man landed a few meaty punches on the unbeaten super middleweight, though, and later gave him several tips on his performance when they met up backstage.

"He was a really nice guy, and passed on a lot of information, which was great as he is so experienced," said Nembhard.

"He said I had been hurting him, and that I had kept up some good pressure, but he could tell that I was trying to stop him. I had got a bit too eager, and he spotted that.

"He said he could see me loading up, and that allowed him to evade the shots. I need to disguise it better.

"There is a lot of work to do, but there were a lot of good tips from him."

Sharrow's Naphtali said 31-year-old Bray's corner was very active, verbally, in the fight.

"They were trying to wind me up - as I would have been if I had been doing the same job.

"If I caught their man with a body shot, they'd say: 'It's alright, you can't hurt him!' "It was good trash talk and all part of learning."

Some of the home fighter's students from Chesterfield College were ringside cheering him on: "They'll probably give me some stick for not knocking the guy out."

The 29-year-old Naphtali, trained by Sean Thickett, did appear a little dejected when his first six-rounder had finished.

"I won every round, although it was frustrating to have got hit three or four times with those 10 ounce gloves - I don't tend to get hit much as I move around.

"But I actually enjoyed that as well," said the 'Yorkshire Yardie' who is now 6-0-0.

"I had started strong and on it, and I don't think he (Bray) had expected me to be so sharp, so he went negative, and it's hard to open opponents up when that happens. He was good at surviving.

"I struggled to cut off the ring at times, but it was decent overall.

"I would love to stay active now, and have offered to fight in Hull on Izzy Asif's show in a couple of weeks, but it's more likely it will be September or October."

Meanwhile, Sheffield City Boxing Club's Emily Asquith, who lives in Netherthorpe, won a Haringey Box Cup championship title in London over the weekend.

Coach Brendan Warburton posted: "A convincing performance; stopping her opponent in the second round to take the gold that will sit alongside her National title she won last month."