THERE was great news in and out of the ring for two Droitwich Amateur Boxing Academy fighters at the weekend.
Sian O’Toole was informed about her England selection for the upcoming European Championships and Joe Doyle breezed into the semi-finals of the National Junior Championships.
ABA youth national champion O’Toole, 17, impressed at a selection camp at Team GB headquarters in Sheffield a few weeks ago and will now fly out to Ukraine in May for her first taste of international competition.
Midlands champion Doyle is just two fights away from a national title himself after brushing aside Jack Dillington in his national quarter-final at the Irish Centre in Birmingham on Sunday.
The 14-year-old delivered a devastating display of speed, movement and powerful body shots that his opponent from the north-east was unable to counter as the judges scored all three rounds to the Spa boxer.
Doyle heads to London this weekend for the semi-final and final, when he will be battling it to be England’s number one in the 38-40kg category.
He will be joined in the capital by fellow Droitwich boxer Liam Jones, 15, who received a bye to the semi-final in the 42-44kg section.
One Spa boxer who bowed out of the Championships was Sophie Morton.
The 14-year-old was defeated by the reigning national champion Jessica Williams from Selby but put up a gallant performance and would have learned a lot from her experience.
