Boxing fans can look forward to a festive feast at the Exeter Hall in Kidlington on Friday night (December 6) with 12 quality bouts to augment the Christmas dinner menu as the Wolvercote ABC stage their first tournament of the season.

And the success enjoyed by the gym over the past few years has presented matchmaker Faz Keyani with something of a headache.

He explained: "As your boxers accumulate a string of decent results, you have to look further afield to find opponents of the same calibre for them to box against.

"Lawrence Lewis, our bantamweight, is on the verge of the England team, so you need to match him against either an existing international or another boxer likely to get national honours in the not too distant future.

"And Steve Mullins, who has also reached the ABA semi-finals, is in a similar position.

The Wolvercote gym is packed to capacity on most training nights, but not all of them can be accommodated on the bill at the Exeter Hall.

"Unfortunately, you are limited to the number of bouts you can stage at any show," explained Keyani.

Lewis, from Cassington, takes on Abdul Odoud from Birmingham, while light middleweight Mullins faces Aaron Kehoe, who reached the finals of the ABA Novice championship two years in succession.

Mullins's elder brother, Peter, returns to the ring after a two-year absence to take on highly-ranked Army champion Steve Briggs.

Light middleweight Chris Woods faces another formidable military opponent in Andy Morrison, Paul Stedman meets Tamworth light welterweight Jemal Kordell and Marc Dibsdale has a featherweight clash with Birmingham's Sultan Ali.

Mark Maisey, Stuart Walford, David Pringle, Corin McLean, Melvin Keyani and Simon Sutherland are the other members of the Wolvercote contingent completing the bill.

Tickets, priced at £30 are available by calling 01993 774407.