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For club and country with Benjamin Whittaker

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Benjamin Whittaker is up and running at senior level for club and country as Wodensborough got three through at the start of the England Elite Championships.

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The Elites will produce their West Midlands champions this week with Whittaker aiming to make it a double delight,

writes Craig Birch.

Fighters return to the Irish Centre in Digbeth, Birmingham, on Sunday after the venue staged the first area phase last weekend.

Whittaker steps up to the competition for the first time having already won two national titles, a National Ambition crown in 2013 and England Youth honours last year.

The 18-year-old, from Darlaston, has also represented England at the Commonwealth and European Youth Championships over the past 12 months.

He's now been selected for Great Britain's podium squad, the first foot on the ladder towards of ultimate goal of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.

Club business was the order of the day in Digbeth, though, as Whittaker stepped through the ropes with Jared Doherty, from Eastside in Birmingham.

The two clashed over three, three minute rounds at 75kg with Whittaker the clear winner, fast feet and hands along with movement outclassing the game Doherty unanimously on points.

Whittaker is back in action this weekend, but awaits the winner of one of three box-offs to take place on a D & A club show at the Paragon Hotel in Birmingham.

Jordan Thompson, from the Jewellery Quarter, vies with Connor Robson, of Bulkington in Coventry, for the chance to take him on.

Wodensborough club-mate Josh Stokes, a national champion in the 2011 old junior ABAs, will also be in action at the Paragon.

Stokes, now 23, progressed in style with a second round stoppage of Birmingham City's Richard Robinson, big left hooks getting the job done early.

He will now tackle Charlie Delve, from Triumph in Coventry, for the right to meet Orme's Luke Caci in the area decider at 81kg.

Wodensborough's Lauren Johnson, a senior ABA champion in 2012, walks over the West Midlands stages with no opponents at the female 75kg.

The third box-off puts together Walsall Wood's Shaun Cooper and Mitchell Stevens, from the Brooklands home gym in Dudley run by former professional Darren McDermott, at 69kg.

Cooper unanimously overcame Birmingham City's Connor Tierney last weekend, while Stevens did the same to Triumph's Lewis Rafferty. Aston's Jack Williams lies in wait for the winner.

Three more are preparing for straight West Midlands finals, with Faluk Hussain and Solomon Dacres both benefitting from byes.

Connor Jones, from Lions in Dudley, scored a clinical unanimous success against Worcester City's Ameen Khan. He now faces Danny Quartermaine, of Cleary's in Leamington Spa, at 60kg.

Hussain, from Windmill in Smethwick, has been paired with Aston's Ijaz Sheik at 48kg. Warley's Dacres will trade blows with Aston's Joel Ducille in a 91kg plus super heavyweight clash.

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