Odera delivers first title of 2020 for Islington BC at London Intermediate finals
Odera Okwuosa celebrates (pic Reggie Hagland) - Credit: Archant
Islington Boxing Club saw their first champion of 2020 crowned at the weekend as Odera Okwuosa won a London Intermediate title.
Odera Okwuosa celebrates with Islington coaches (pic Reggie Hagland) - Credit: Archant
Super-heavyweight Okwuosa was in over-91kg action over two days at The Roundhouse in Dagenham and saw off two good prospects to claim honours.
Friday night saw Okwuosa, a finalist in the National Association of Boys & Girls Club Championships last year, take on East London Boxing Academy's Uthman Nawaz, who reached the finals of the same competition in 2018.
The first round was close, with both boxers having their successes, but the Islington boxer upped the tempo in the second round and gave Nawaz a standing eight count.
kwuosa finished strongly in the last round to earn a unanimous points win and progress to the finals the next day.
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In the final, Okwuosa came up against the fresh Brian Muwenge (All Stars) who received a straight final in the draw.
And Okwuosa started off slowly and was outworked by Muwenge, befoer the Islington boxer raised his game in the second round and once again finished strongly in the last of the three-minute rounds.
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After seeing him claim another unanimous points victory to lift the London title, a club spokesman said: "Odera is a good prospect and could be one to watch out for next season, we plan to enter him again in the National Development Championships.
"Unfortunately, the championship doesn't go any further, it would be nice if England Boxing makes this a national tournament in the future, it helps gives coaches and matchmakers an idea of the level their boxer is at, especially with the Elite Championships coming up in March."
Islington had two other entrants in the London Intermediate Championships but Charlie Roche lost via a 3-2 split decision in the quarter-finals finals to Repton ABC's Liam Forrest, who ended up winning the U75kg (middleweight) title.
Meanwhile, Senay Kahsay (under-69kg) has had a very busy season so far and has quickly stepped up in levels with active ring action, but lost via unanimous decision to eventual champion Timon Asiama-Southgate (Cuban BA).
