Lion ABC’s Jack Farmer made a triumphant return to the ring after a two-year absence as the Hoxton club bade farewell to their old Pitfield Street building.

The 17-year-old marked his comeback with an impressive win over Harry Mitchell (Isle of Thanet) in the final Lion show before construction gets under way on a state-of-the-art building.

Both Farmer and his opponent threw plenty of shots to the head in a close opening round but, as the bout progressed, the Lion boxer got on top with a series of counter-punches.

Farmer came through to secure a unanimous decision in front of a full house – and there was also an excellent victory for Lion’s Ram Singh, the youngest of three brothers at the club.

Singh was matched against Jamie Abercrombie (Westree ABC), who came out throwing punches, but the Lion boxer’s extra mobility and faster hand speed earned him the verdict on a unanimous decision.

However, it was not a good night for the McDonagh family, with three home fighters – Jimmy, Michael and Gerard – all losing their respective contests.

Jimmy was defeated on a split decision by Shaun Barrett (Hooks ABC), with Michael also losing on a majority to Davey Beany (Westree).

Meanwhile, Gerard attempted to stand and trade punches with Fred Moss (Repton ABC) and was forced to take standing counts in the final round before the referee called a halt to proceedings.

Ex-Repton boxer Jordon Moore, making his debut for Lion, faced former team-mate Jack Oliphant and took two standing counts in the second round before the contest was stopped at the start of the third.

Lion’s Harry Robbins was next into the ring, but he was unsuccessful as well, losing out on a unanimous decision to Conor Knight (Rusthall & Tunbridge Wells BC).

And there were further disappointments for the home club as Herbert Opoku and Tommy Ngo were defeated by Joe Bryant (Braintree ABC) and Billy O’Donnell (Hooks) respectively, with both fights halted in the second round.

Earlier in the evening, there were four skills bouts – where no result is given – and all of them featured Lion boxers.

Patrick McDonagh boxed George Ibbs (Isle of Thanet), Mohammed Miah fought Charlie Connaughton (Attleborough BC), Reece Cosgrave took on Jake Baker (Isle of Thanet) and Dillon Singh was matched with Dawoud Tanveer (Slough BC).