Williams' title win caps fine weekend for local boxers

A busy weekend of boxing saw Cleary's heavyweight Lewis Williams win the England Youth Championship and three Leamington boxers progress in the Development Championships.
Royal Leamington Spa ABC's Mariusz Piwonar with quarter-final opponent Liam Carlin. Picture submittedRoyal Leamington Spa ABC's Mariusz Piwonar with quarter-final opponent Liam Carlin. Picture submitted
Royal Leamington Spa ABC's Mariusz Piwonar with quarter-final opponent Liam Carlin. Picture submitted

Williams, nursing a slight shoulder injury, took on Brandon Jones (Wayne Elcock’s) in Birmingham, looking to gain revenge for a controversial defeat on Jones’ home show two seasons previously.

Boxing at range and working off his jab, Williams controlled the bout to gain an unanimous decision and now heads out to Ireland for a ten-day training camp in preparation for his Youth World Championships appearance in Russia next month.

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Cleary’s stablemate Michael Jephcott progressed to the semi-final of the England Boxing Senior Development Championships after beating Lewis Holland (South Normanton SOB) in their Class B 60kg contest in Scunthorpe.

Holland, a former world kickboxing champion, came into the contest as a big favourite but Jephcott’s busy display and solid body shots gave him the edge, with his opponent hanging on at the finish.

Jephcott will be joined in the latter stages of the Development Championships by Royal Leamington Spa ABC’s Mariusz Piwonar, has had to fight in every round to reach the last four of the 91kg Class A category.

Piwonar beat the Army’s Liam Carlin in his latest outing, with coach Ollie O’Neill pointing to his drop down in weights as a major factor behind his winning streak.

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Bella Madden competed the Leamington treble, overcoming Newdigate’s Shannon McCarthy to join fellow Fitzpatrick’s boxer Sean Leahy in the national semi-finals in Doncaster.

A stripped-down Madden showed the benefit of extra training sessions to gain a unanimous decision and now goes on to face Natasha Taylor (St Paul’s).

“These are exciting times for local boxing with six representatives from the town in the semi-finals,” said Madden’s coach Derek Fitzpatrick.

Meanwhile, an England call-up for Cleary’s boxer Danny Quartermaine has gone some way to erasing the disappointment of missing out on a fight for the English title in Doncaster.

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Quartermaine took the title fight at just 48 hours notice but when his opponent pulled out hours later there was no time to find a suitable replacement.

However, the teenager’s potential was recognised at an Elite Men Open Talent Day, with Quartermaine selected to join the England Boxing Talent Programme on the newly created Discovery phase.

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