Home comforts for Owen in England Youth
Macauley Owen will be hoping for more home comforts over the rest of the area rounds in the England Youth Championships.
The Donnington Boxing Club prospect claimed West Midlands honours through a bloody battle against Pleck's James Beech last weekend,
The 60kg combatant now has to defeat his Birmingham and then Warwickshire counterpart to become the full Midlands champion and advance to the national stages.
The 17-year-old will be back on home turf this Sunday, with the divisional semi-finals and finals also being staged at the Telford district's Sports & Social Club.
It's the same venue which housed Owen's exciting split decision points victory, after three hotly-contested rounds, over Beech in the fight of the day last Saturday.
A cagey first saw a less-than-busy Owen concede the session, but a word in his ear from trainer Tristan Davies saw him step up his efforts.
Constant success with the southpaw's left back-hand saw blood leak from Beech's nose, as he got caught time and again trying to counter punch.
The gutsy Beech hung in there and got some shots off at close quarters, but he ended up marginally on the wrong side of the judges' scorecards.
Davies said: "I couldn't wait to get Macauley back in the corner at the end of the first, I told him he needed to start throwing a lot more punches.
"He was measuring him by the end and trapped him when he wanted, but he knows he will have to start a lot faster when we go back on Sunday.
"He did well, so I take nothing away from him. He's got a great chance if he can box like that for three rounds, rather than two."
Owen next takes on Tom Collins, from the second city's Hall Green, with the winner tackling Daniel Quartermarine, from Clearys of Leamington Spa, the following Sunday.
Yet to come into the tournament are Hadley's Akash Tuqir, now representing Merridale in Wolverhampton, and Ludlow's Ben Bywater.
Bywater enters the fray for cruiserweight action this weekend, 'the Beast' opposed by his first 81kg rival in Cleary's Lewis Williams. The victor meets Joe Ireland, from Meir in Stoke-on-Trent.
Tuqir, a two-time national finalist and former Tri-Nations title winner, boxes a straight Midlands final next weekend against Hall Green's Ammar Khan at 52kg.
In the female side of the competition, Donnington's Toni Crooks has walked over at 51kg to the national pre-quarter finals, which take place at the Wallace Centre in Stoke on February 8.
