HE may have lost, but 12-year-old Larry Doran won the hearts of a packed Langdon Hall at Witney ABC's first dinner tournament of the season.

The sole boxer from the host gym in action, Doran made his ring debut against Josh Locke, from Berinsfield.

And the two youngsters delivered three rounds of raw schoolboy passion that had the crowd on their feet.

Josh used his extra height to full effect and gained a unanimous decision, but Larry made a magnificent contribution to a bout that was an absolute joy to watch.

The two remaining Home Counties Golden Belt finals opened the night.

Berinsfield's Will Joyce was quick to impose his authority with neat right jabs to claim the opener against Bushey's Darren Codona.

But the Hertfordshire youngster bounced back during the second period before Joyce edged a close final session to claim a split decision in this Class 1 48kg clash.

And there was further local success in the other championship clash as Imtiaz Kandokar (Banbury Spit 'n' Sawdust) was quick to find the measure of taller Stevenage opponent Lawrence Bell.

He built up a decisive lead by landing well to both head and body to clearly claim the first two rounds.

Bell then left it too late to claw back the deficit as Kandokar claimed a unanimous victory to become Class 3 bantamweight champion.

Left-hander Fred Smith claimed the third Berinsfield win as he showed more variety in his work against Walcot's Rahim Natji.

He dominated this clash from the bell and gave the judges an easy task after claiming all three sessions.

Despite imposing a standing count, following an unanswered cluster of head shots during the second period, Maverick Harding (Blackbird Leys) missed on a split vote to Stevenage's Harry Marshall.

This pair of 16-year-olds never held back and only the slimmest possible margin separated the two at the end of a strength-sapping battle.

Southpaw Ben Murphy gained the second win of the night for the Banbury outfit by proving quicker to the punch to gain a unanimous verdict over Chesham's Nick Radley in the light heavyweight division.

RESULTS

Golden Belt Home Counties Finals - Class 1 48kg: W Joyce (Berinsfield) Outpd D Codona (Bushey) Maj. Class 3 54kg: I Kandokar (Banbury Spit 'n' Sawdust) Outpd L Bell (Stevenage) Unan.

Other bouts: B Fitzgerald (Chesham) Outpd C Healy (Heart of England) Maj; J Locke (Berinsfield) Outpd L Doran (Witney) Unan; F Smith (Berinsfield) Outpd R Natji (Walcot) Unan; J Wallace (Tredworth) Outpd A Quilligan (Arena Luton) Maj; H Marshall (Stevenage) Outpd M Harding (Blackbird Leys) Maj; J Docherty (Bushey) Outpd T Flynn (Walcot) Unan; B Murphy (Banbury) Outpd N Radley (Chesham) Unan.