Three gun for ABA Novice final spot

Three Black Country amateurs will be gunning for a place in the ABA Novice national championship finals.

Priory Park ABC duo Josh Aston and Vakar Hussain join Wednesbury ABC's Dale Doody in the semi-finals at the Everton Park Leisure Centre in Liverpool on Saturday afternoon.

Aston – cousin of pro Ryan, who boxes on the Sky Sports pro show on Saturday night – will reach the last hurdle if he can overcome South Durham ABC's Matthew Temby.

With a win, the teenage bantamweight will move a step closer to picking up an ABC Novice title less than three years after taking up the sport.

Joining him in Class A – boxers who have had 10 bouts or under – is club-mate Hussain, who edged past the Golden Gloves ABC's Marcel Braithwaite on points in the quarter-finals last weekend.

Featherweight Hussain is still relatively fresh after two 'walk overs' – no opponent to box – since the Midlands final and is up against Nathan Milburn, from Hetton Town ABC near Sunderland.

In Class B – boxers who have had 20 bouts or under – Doody boxes in the tournament for the first time against Gary Reeve, from High Fell ABC, after a series of 'walk overs.'

The winner will contest the 48kg – light flyweight – final against Down End ABC's Kane Smart at the Mountbatten Centre in Portsmouth next Saturday.