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A full house at the Fairmont Southampton witnessed one of the best Police Boxing Nights in years as Bermuda's best took on New York's finest. The well-dressed crowd at the annual black-tie boxing event witnessed nine bouts, including six which pitted Bermuda's boxers against police and firefighters from the Big Apple.

The result was a 3-3 split, with some thrilling bouts - from all out brawling to accomplished ringmanship.

James Whittaker was ringside to witness the action.

Vanessa Furbert beat Avita O'Connor, points decision

Rightly awarded the bout of the night there was nothing girly about this match-up.

O'Connor and Furbert went at it from the opening bell to the last. Police academy graduate Furbert landed the heavier blows but O'Connor gave as good as she got, in an all-out brawl that had the capacity crowd on its feet in appreciation.

Juan Looby beat Darren Harvey, points decision

Few in the crowd gave Looby a chance in this match-up, with the basketball player giving away pounds and inches to his imposing looking opponent.

But the 20-year-old dictated the fight, out-boxing Harvey, to earn a deserved points victory.

Both fighters looked very good for first-timers but Looby had the extra stamina and craft to prevail in another excellent contest.

Daniel Burgess beat Fatmir Usseini, points decision

Middleweight Burgess played the odds in this contest, raining blows on his opponent. Not all of them landed, but enough made a connection to win him the bout.

This was a much closer contest than the last two and Burgess was perhaps a shade lucky to get the decision.

Usseini, counter-punched clinically and accurately and showed he knew how to box, but at times he looked intimidated or just plain scared at Burgess' physical presence.

Lightning quick on his feet and with the stamina to go twice as long, Burgess, shaded it.

Tom Healy beat Todd Velten, points decision

Renegades rugby star Tom Healy left little room for doubt in this encounter, relentlessly pursuing his cowed opponent for the full three rounds.

Healy came out in a blizzard of fists but calmed down at the urging of his coach Chucky Renuad, who gesticulating wildly from ringside, and boxed cleverly, throwing fewer punches, with greater precision.

When he saw an opening, though, the shaven-headed Irishman was true to his aggressive instincts, piling blow after blow into his untested opponent Velten, who handled himself well, but was soundly beaten.

Will Hamilton beat Josh Smith, points decision

Smith had a 8-2 record prior to this fight, compared to his opponent's 10-15. But Hamilton quickly showed that the win-ratio stood for a lot less than the number of bouts contested, using all his experience to out-point Smith.

It was a cagey contest with Hamilton on top and Smith struggling to get through his defences. But it was by no means a walk over and it would have been interesting to see how the fight might have developed had the boxers been given more than three two-minute rounds.

Three rounds is fine for genuine novices but accomplished amateurs like these two deserve the chance to see what they can do over six or even eight rounds.

Jack Kirrane beat Lamark Ingram, points decision

On paper this looked like being the miss-match of the night with Ingram, who had only fought once before, pitted against firefighter Kirrane, who had eight bouts to his name.

And for the opening round it looked like that was how it would turn out with the stylish Kirrane persistently breaching Ingram's defences to land clean blows. The Bermudian looked stunned, but bounced back tremendously in round two, bloodying Kirrane's nose with a blow that left him looking dazed.

Ultimately the accomplished right hook of the New Yorker did enough damage to earn a deserved points victory. But Ingram showed great potential against the odds.

Kelly Graham beat Juliana D'Estelle Roe, points decision

Juliana D'Estelle Roe probably would have preferred a bit more notice for her first ever bout. She was thrown in at the last minute against a more experienced opponent after Robyn Swan was deemed unfit to fight. The 21-year-old put up a good fight in another entertaining women's bout, but was up against it from the off. Kelly Graham scored the first and only knockdown of the night, with D'Estelle Roe hitting the canvas, almost in slow motion, in the opening round. The Bermuda boxer fought back doggedly but Graham held on for a points win,

Mark Dunlop beat John Ryan, points decision

Mark Dunlop beefed up to 201lbs to make the weight for this super-heavyweight bout but he was still dwarfed by his burly opponent. Ryan was quick on his feet for a big fella, but MR Onions footballer, Dunlop, was in aggressive mode - gesticulating to an appreciative crowd in-between rounds. Brushing off Ryan's blows he kept coming back for more and ultimately out-battling his opponent.

Exhibition Bout

Kevin Kirrane beat John Soukas, points decision

Golden gloves contender Kirrane put on an entertaining exhibition bout with fellow New Yorker Soukas to open the night.

Both boxers gave a good account of themselves in a competitive bout before going on to work the corner for the New York firefighters for the rest of the night.

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