Aaron Bowen defends boxing national title
Aaron Bowen has defended his England Boxing National Amateur Championship title after a dominant display in the final – as he was also named the best boxer in the tournament.
Bowen fights out of Box Smart Elite boxing club in Walsall and entered the competition as number one seed following his success on the GB Boxing team – after he won gold at the Golden Gong tournament in North Macedonia last month.
After coming through his quarter-final and semi-final bouts unscathed, Bowen fought number two seed Omar Augustine in the final.
Having won the title in 2019 – and after the competition took a break last year due to Covid-19 – Bowen had a chance to defend his under-81kg crown against a fighter who has previously beaten him twice.
Bowen used his feet and ring generalship to punch and move, avoiding a number of heavy shots from Augustine.
He began to trade blows in the second round before returning to his boxing skills in the third, catching his opponent with some eye catching backhands – earning him a unanimous decision victory.
“I’ve lost to him (Augustine) twice so I knew it was going to be hard and he came at me as I thought he would do. At times I had to really dig in,” said Bowen.
“But I stuck to what I had to do and got the job done. The pressure was on being the number one seed, which makes it that extra bit special to win again.”
Alongside his title, Bowen was also given the Mickey May Award for the best boxer in the tournament.
With his recent success, GB Boxing have now moved Bowen up in January to be part of the Podium Team, putting him one step closer to boxing in the Commonwealth Games next year, where he could add to his youth Commonwealth gold medal from 2017.
