Berinsfield bantamweight Richard Tyler shrugged off the flu to step into the ring and move a step closer in his quest to be crowned a NACYP champion with a determined victory in Bristol.
Although not boxing at his best, he always had the upper hand against Bideford’s Matthew Ennemis in the Class B regional finals for Southern and South West England.
Tyler was first to find his range and alternated his attack with precise shots to both head and body.
Ennemis kept his gloves high, but it proved to be a damage limitation exercise as the Oxfordshire teenager found plenty of gaps in the guard as he claimed a comprehensive points win.
Tyler is now three bouts away from the finals and is next in action on February 28.
And Berinsfield’s Jordan Flynn bids for a place in the finals of the National Schoolboy championships in Surrey this weekend.
Guildford’s Ben Brown is his opponent in the Class 1 42 kg category.
Oxford Boxing Academy’s Ben Kaluza returned from Birmingham with a polished points win over NACYP semi finalist James Truman from the host Aston gym.
The Bicester featherweight quickly came to terms with his southpaw rival and peppered him with straight rights and left hooks to both head and body.
Truman, two rounds adrift, attempted a fruitless late rally but was too far behind on the judges’ scorecards to rescue the bout.
Oxford Boxing Academy chief coach Faz Keyani said: “Ben is improving all the time and we could aim him at this year’s Junior ABA championships.”
Daza Usher showed no signs of jet lag as he stepped off a flight from Thailand and almost straight into the ring for a four round welterweight clash with John Campbell.
But luck was not on his side as his Aston rival emerged with a dubious majority decision at the Great Barr Sports Centre.
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