Dorchester ABC duo Joe Malpas and Andrius Pacharevas both impressed in front of more than a thousand spectators at the Tournament of the Season in Swindon.

Malpas was matched against Bartek Mroszcyk and enjoyed every minute of his maiden bout.

Commenting afterwards, he said: “I’ll never forget the thrill of that first bout, every time I caught Bartek I could hear booing and I could see in his face that he didn’t like it one bit.”

It was obvious from the first bell that Malpas had trained well for this bout as he traded on his physical strength by working Mroszcyk into the corner and letting rip with a barrage of fast body punches.

The second saw Mroszcyk hesitantly waiting to land the big pay off punch but despite being a little untidy at times Malpas displayed a cool maturity by absorbing his opponent’s best efforts without even flinching.

Malpas was proving solid and durable as he consistently worked his jab and continued to grow in confidence as the bout progressed.

Mroszcyk then began to bury his head behind his gloves to stop Malpas scoring but the county town ace kept on trying to find a way through.

The home boxer then let rip with a flurry of late punches in the final seconds to eventually snatch the decision but Malpas’ coaches, Ben Geyser and Jonjo Look, were impressed by their man’s efforts.

As for Pacharevas, he came up against James Townsend and immediately came out behind a vicious jab, looking to box.

The Dorchester boxer moved in close and fired in a few lefts and then attempted to deliver a finishing combination only for Townsend to be saved by the bell.

Pacharevas looked well on top and the momentum continued into the second with some solid body hooks but his opponent refused to buckle and suddenly began to throw left and rights in retaliation.

Townsend came out in the third and tried everything he knew to keep Pacharevas in check but the latter countered and parried everything that came his way.

The bout came to an exciting and thrilling climax with both boxers going toe-to-toe but it was the local man that got the decision again after what was an enthralling contest.

Despite their respective results, Malpas and Pacharevas both enjoyed the electric atmosphere at the show and would definitely go again.