Malmesbury boxer clinches the Southern Division Championship (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Malmesbury boxer clinches the Southern Division Championship

JOE Hughes became the Western Counties Schoolboy Champion in Bristol on Saturday when he emerged victorious against Exeter's Lewis Browning, the Southern Division Champion.

It was Hughes' jab which was the key to success and he easily evaded or blocked Browning's inaccurate punches to come back with his own left hooks.

At close range, the Malmes-bury boy was always the boss when it came to in-fighting and scored freely with left hooks to the body with little or no reply.

The previous evening bantamweight Paul Falcone gave an impressive display of pressure fighting when taking all three rounds against Yeovil's Martin Nardiello at Bristol's Speedwell School.

Falcone constantly had his Somerset opponent reeling under his assaults behind a solid double jab and right hands to earn the vote of all three judges.

Schoolboy Andrew Ware battled with bravery and determination against Downend's George Stone.

However, the Bristol boy's height proved the deciding factor and, despite being caught with several right hands in the final round, the Downend lad had done enough to get the decision.