TERRY Spencer provided a taste of things to come by stopping his opponent little more than half a minute into his debut.
The 18-year-old Widnes light welterweight turned in a hugely-promising performance in front of a hometown crowd at St Basil's Social Club in Hough Green.
He had far too much for his also untried opponent, Bobby Gilder from Tameside Elite, and the referee called a halt after about 35 seconds.
'Terry boxed with a lot of maturity,' said his Warrington Phoenix Olympic Centre coach Damian Ridpath. 'He picked his punches extremely well and landed nine or 10 unanswered shots before the referee stepped in.'
But for Phoenix's 16-year-old Tom Smith, of Runcorn, the 'fight of his life' wasn't quite enough.
He was outpointed by Liverpool-based Campion Transport's Liam Vaughan in their junior match at 66 kilos.
'It was a cracking contest - an absolute stormer,' added Ridpath. 'Tom boxed as well as he has ever done but met a very good opponent.
'With Liam being a big body puncher, Tom took some digs in the ribs and it took him a round and a half to get into it.
'He was quite a few points behind but he pulled most of them back.
'I was delighted with him and Tom was delighted with himself - this was the best opponent he had ever faced.'
Again, the Halton public showed its appetite for boxing by turning out in their hundreds despite the weather.
'It was a really poor night weather wise and I didn't expect a big crowd but we got to capacity,' added Ridpath. 'I'd just like to thank everyone for turning up.
'We had 11 bouts in all with seven Phoenix boxers in action and five of them winning.'
There was disappointment, however, for another Widnes light welterweight, 19-year-old Adam Thompson, whose debut was postponed through his rival's withdrawal.
