Sherif ‘The Sandman’ Musah has his sights set on a bid for the England Elite Boxing Championships after claiming his first national title on Sunday.

The Islington BC light-heavyweight outpointed Ciaran Nelson (Sefton) over four rounds to secure victory in the Class B Under-81kg national final of the Development Championships.

Now the 23-year-old personal trainer, who has made a successful switch down from cruiserweight in recent months, is keen to try his hand at the ABA showpiece tournament in the near future.

“My next target is to do the ABAs,” Musah told the Gazette. “I don’t know whether it’ll be this year – I’m going to have some time off first.

“It’s definitely a big boost to know that you’ve faced someone at the top of this division and come through. It feels like the world’s your oyster.

“I kept telling myself I was going to win the final, not in an egotistical kind of way – although I always had confidence, talk is cheap. It’s action that counts and there was no way it would be a walk in the park.”

Musah took some time to get into his stride in Sunday’s final, but started making good use of his jab to keep his opponent at bay towards the end of the opening round.

The Islington fighter took full control from the second round onwards, catching Nelson with a series of head and body shots and stepped up the pace to earn a comfortable unanimous decision.

“I felt elated,” added Musah, who was previously a London finalist in the Class A category. “It was everything I’ve trained for and I’m reaping the rewards now.

“The change in weight has made a difference – I have to be more careful with what I eat and drink now. Before, when I used to have my weigh-in, I’d be a kilo over and I had to do 40 minutes on the treadmill.

“Also, the coaches at Islington have played such a big part. They taught me the foundations of boxing and the discipline and without those I wouldn’t have won the title.”