It's seven up for Junior finals weekend
Five fighters have added to the West Midlands contingent that are going to finals weekend in the England Junior Championships next month.
Four wins and a walkover in the quarter-finals settled matters last weekend with the race for national titles approaching crunch time,
The semi-finals and final will be staged by the Heart of Portsmouth outfit on the South Coast, over two days on the weekend commencing April 2.
Bouts are contested over three three minutes, with the last four draw for each weight computerised at the venue on the day.
The second national tournament on the unpaid calendar for 2016 continues with two divisions separated by age, one encompassing 2000-2001 born entrants and another solely for 2001.
The last eight clashes at the Meres Leisure Centre in Grantham saw James Mongan, Raheem Mohammed, Hamzah Ahmed, Paige Goodyear and Phoebe Hodson all progress.
Mongan, from Priory Park Boxing Club, left bruised and battered but a unanimous points winner at 46kg in the 2001 only 'cadet' class.
Opponent Samuel Strand, from Burton Park, threw everything at him including flailing elbows and his head, but couldn't upset his rhythm.
Mohammed, representing Merridale Boxing Club in Wolverhampton, took on Shepshed's Kian Corssen at 48kg.
For the third Junior outing in succession, he handed his opponent a standing count. Corssen was rattled in the first round, but battled on to the finish.
Mohammed had his hand raised by unanimous points decision for a second time, after starting out in the competition with a first round TKO.
To make it a double delight, he has since received a letter to inform him he has been offered a place on the England Boxing Talent Programme.
Walsall Wood's Hamzah Ahmed also had to work at 57kg in the 2000-01 category, but got through on a split decision.
Ahmed made it a hat-trick of national semi-finals in less than a year by seeing off Bradley Bethall, from Braunstone Golden Gloves in Leicester.
Goodyear prevailed unanimously at 54kg in the 2000-01 girls section, defeating Scunthorpe's Chloe Morris in her first Junior outing.
The double national champion, from the Brooklands home gym in Dudley run by former professional Darren McDermott, has gone up in weight for this season.
Hodson, of the Right Stuff in Stafford, reported to Grantham ready to box on the day but was handed a bye at 63kg.
Merridale duo Simran Kaur and Kara Murray were already through. Kaur will have five at her weight of 48kg when that comes to pass.
Murray has been handed a great opportunity to claim her first national title. She boxes a straight final at 60kg against the well-schooled Elisha Mannouch, from Swale Gloves in Kent.
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