Dagenham Boxing Club saw two of their fighters win England Boxing Development Championship titles in a fine start to the season.
Tony Saunders and Billy Macey were crowned champions after some fine displays, with members now focusing on the NABGC Championships and King of the Ring Box Cup in Sweden.
Senior Michael Omokayode beat Nicholas Rosa (Peckham ABC) on unanimous points at u67kg in the London quarter-finals, then saw off Robert Lloyd Taylor (New Kings ABC) behind a stiff and effective jab in the semi-finals.
Mason Small won his youth 60kg semi-final against Bobby Mullally (Yeading ABC) on a split decision, but senior Mahdi Sheikh (51kg) lost to eventual champion Hassan Abu (Earlsfield ABC).
In the London finals, junior Will Payne (60kg) received a walkover when Billy Catanach (Newham) withdrew, but Saunders (54/57kg) beat Ali Sogut (White Hart Lane BA) with an excellent display of pressure boxing.
Saunders used his timing and feints to good effect to claim a third-round stoppage, after three standing counts, and Macey (48kg) proved too strong for TM Boxing's Cairo Edwards, forcing a second-round stoppage in a one-sided contest to claim his first London title with the club.
Fellow junior Ibrahim Ahktar (52kg) lost to Anton Taylor-Dalmeida (Belvedere ABC) in a lively clash, as his rival used fast and effective quickfire combinations to claim the title.
But Small used excellent movement and fast counters to grind out a tough win over the more experienced and previously unbeaten James Harris (East London BA) in only his fourth contest.
Omokayode then used his jab well to build a commanding lead to beat Ahmed Sidi Salem Hli (All Stars) to earn a unanimous points win and book his place at the National pre quarter-finals in Exeter.
Payne and Macey received walkovers as their Western Counties rivals withdrew, while Saunders beat Leo Powell (Factory ABC) with a second-round stoppage and Small defeated Robert Isaacs (Sydenham ABC) on unanimous points with an outstanding display of fast counter-boxing.
But Omokayode was edged out by eventual champion Alfie Woods (Christchurch ABC) after a close contest, having looked in control before being stunned by a standing count in the final round, which proved the difference.
The National quarter-finals in Harlow saw Saunders beat Reynolds Price (Berinsfield ABC) on a wide unanimous verdict, but Payne lost to Quinlan Carter (West Herts ABC) via TKO after an intervention from the referee in the third round, having looked in control of a messy bout.
Macey’s opponent pulled out just minutes before their scheduled bout, while Small lost to George Thorpe (Spire ABC) in a tight semi-final tussle after six straight wins.
Fast combinations and neat footwork kept Saunders away from danger against Sam Coughlan (Bishops Auckland) in his semi-final, as he took a unanimous decision, and Macey beat Alfie Collard (Hastings WestHill ABC) with a second round TKO, repeating an earlier win over the same opponent.
Macey hurt his opponent at the end of the first round, with Collard receiving a count, and put pressure on at the start of the second round to force the referee to step in.
And he went on to grab his first-ever National title with an aggressive show of his strength and speed to outwork Alfie Thomas (Titans ABC, Yorkshire).
Saunders then impressed everyone with a backfoot display of very calculated counter-boxing, at times dazzling Callum Northedge (LA Boxing, Yorkshire) to win every round in a unanimous points victory for a first taste of championship honours.
"Tony is from a richly talented traveller family of boxers who’ve won titles for many years with Dagenham," said club secretary Dan O'Sullivan.
"Tony can grab many more, as can young Macey. The future looks very bright for our highly talented boxers."
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