BEN Heap took the honours in front of another packed house at the Meca as he beat Luke Hambidge to claim Swindon Fightclub’s international middleweight title at the weekend.

The man from Spartans Gym in Chippenham came out on top against Luke Hambidge, who went into the event having one each of his previous Fightclub bouts by knockout or power shots.

Hambidge went forward from the start, looking for hook shots, but professional kick boxer Heap kept his shape well and executed his gameplan which forced Swindon’s Hambidge to leave himself open.

The referee had to step in and impose counts to look after Hambidge and, although the Swindon fighter left everything in the ring, it was Heap who had his arm raised The title bout was the culmination of an action-packed show which began with the hotly anticipated fight between Daniel Wells and Jason Ranford. Wells had the crowd on his side throughout and the support saw him home when he took the decision at the end of the contest.

The second fight of the evening saw Scotty Thompson face undefeated MMA star Adam Little, who threw fast jabs right from the off to send Thompson crashing to the canvas with a big right. Little controlled the fight from there, using his reach advantage, and although Thompson came out with a flurry in the final few seconds to send his man to the corner it was too little too late as Little took the decision.

Darren Jones was up next against Joe Carpenter, with the two meeting to try and settle the draw they battled out just a few months previously. Jones came out throwing wild rights in a bid to end the contest early, some of which connected, but when the pair were close it was Carpenter who had the upper hand and cruised to a comfortable points decision.

Witney’s Arron Mullis and Anthony Miller of Bicester both showed real progress when they met in fight five, with Miller scored the winner at the end of a tight contest.

Kane Sherwood, whose sister Toni took part in Fightclub’s first female bout last time out, took on Mark Tring in a contest which staked an early claim for fight of the night. Both fighters went blow for blow with each other but it was Tring’s superior fitness which saw him through to take the overall decision.

Blaine Fitzgerald was always in control as he eased himself through against Ryan Bainbridge, always the aggressor and catching his opponent with telling blows, before taking a simple decision.

Jamie Horn secured his first Fightclub victory as his movement and ability to avoid the big shots saw him beat regular competition Dave Gregory before the penultimate fight of the evening produced the most dramatic finish.

Jason Bristow was taking on a boxer simply know as Muhammed, with both making their Fightclub debuts, and although Muhammed started the brighter Bristow soon landed a big jab which nearly took his opponent out of the ring. The shot was followed by a strong right which knocked him to the canvas and, although the wounded fighter jumped straight up, he failed to keep his balance and the fight was stopped with Muhammed unsure where he was.