Finbarr O'Flaherty pushes on for Priory Park
Finbarr O'Flaherty will continue to plot a path to the area finals of the England Youth Championships on Sunday afternoon.
The first tournament on the England Boxing calendar for 2017 got underway in Shropshire last weekend, writes Craig Birch.
Seven bouts got the divisions of the West Midlands hopefuls up and running at the Donnington Sports & Social Club in Telford.
A single age range - born in either 1999 or 2000 - houses the fighters, who are split into weight classes before being whittled down. Bouts take place over three, three minute rounds.
O'Flaherty, from Priory Park Boxing Club in Dudley, cleared the first hurdle with a unanimous points win over Great Wyrley's Ryan Woolridge at 69kg.
Wolverhampton-based O'Flaherty will be back in action for Sunday's area semi-final, to be staged at the Newdigate Colliery Club in Bedworth.
He's been paired with Tom Ross, from the Tom Lowe gym in Stoke-on-Trent, with the winner to contest the West Midlands decider the following Sunday.
It will come against Birmingham entrant Hakeem Ali-Hussain, of O'Dells, with the area finals again to be held at Newdigate.
Walsall Wood's Hamzah Ahmed was also in action at Donnington as he outpointed Hamza Hussain, from Wellington Boxing Academy in Shropshire, at 56kg.
That was enough to take Ahmed to a box-off for a place in the area's last four against Priory Park's Rahmatullah Sher.
The victor will take on Tom Lowe's Wesley Griffith at Newdigate, with the Second City's Lewis Coley one half of the subsequent contest seven days later.
Darlaston's Regan Williams went down by second round TKO at Donnington, allowing Worcester City's Owen Cooper to progress at 64kg.
Cooper now tackles Amir Ali, from Windmill in Smethwick, this weekend for the right to face O'Dell's Dylan Patrick for a place in the national stages.
A straight West Midlands final will be contested between Conna Hincks, from Merridale in Wolverhampton, and Aaron Bowen, of Triumph in Coventry, at 75kg.