Ludlow fighter to take on Shropshire title rival
Ludlow's Chadd Woodfield will hoping to make it third time lucky when he contests a Shropshire derby in the England Junior Championships.
The 15-year-old from Craven Arms, a pupil at Ludlow CE School, had to box twice over the weekend just to reach the 60kg West Midlands final.
Wellington's Idris Mohammed, who will oppose him in an added bout on Repley's club show in Birmingham this Friday night, was only in the ring once.
Woodfield gained revenge on Harry Hughes, too, after reversing the split decision awarded against him in the area final last year at the semis stage.
He started out at the Donnington Sports & Social Club on Saturday with a resounding unanimous points victory over Shaun Rutherford, from Amphion in Darlaston.
He then returned to the venue for a Sunday box-off and turned the tables on Hughes, from William Perry in Tipton, in another close call that went to the cards.
Woodfield's work on the inside against his gangly adversary got him through, with dad and trainer Colin proud as punch and expecting a good run for his son.
He said: "Chadd has been boxing for four years now and lost in the West Midlands final of this competition twice, so he was due a result.
"We still don't know how Harry got the result last year, even his Dad told me he didn't win the fight. He almost had a point off for low blows here.
"There were five in his category, so that's three fights to get though before you can even think about the national stages, but I am confident.
"Chadd is your average stand up boxer but he can mix it up, so I reckon he will go far. He certainly thinks this could be his year."
A shoot out with Mohammed is now on the cards with both strong and sharp pressure fighters, after he saw off Droitwich's Richard Evans unanimously.
Trainer Mo Fiaz is also predicting big things from Husan Hussain, who is entered down at 42kg in the combined 1999 and 2000 category.
He walked over with a bye to this weekend's first national stage at the Irish Centre in Digbeth, Birmingham, as did Wellington's Hamza Hussain.
He's in at 50kg in the 2000 only category, as are Donnington duo Mohammed Nasser and John Price and Ludlow's Terry Smith at 38kg, 60kg and 63kg respectively.
Also still involved in the 1999-2000 side of the competition is Donnington's Ryan Tyrer at 52kg. Telford & Wrekin's Keiran Solon lost to Sam Gwilt, from Priory Park, at 5okg on Saturday.