ETHAN Holt proved too much for the previously-unbeaten Tommy Hunter as he booked his place in the final of this year’s England Boxing Junior Development Championships.

The Barrow ABC fighter scored a unanimous decision win over his opponent from Boldon ABC in the northern semi-finals of the Class A 52kg category over the weekend, joining clubmates James Braithwaite and Paul O’Reilly in the national finals this weekend.

Holt will be taking on Alan Corcoran, of London club Dale Youth ABC, in Banbury and Barrow head coach Jeff Moses is pleased with the progress his young charge has made recently.

“He (Hunter) was unbeaten, slightly taller and a rangy southpaw, but it’s just Ethan’s workrate,” said Moses.

“When you get to this stage, it’s not about who’s won how many bouts, it’s who wants it and wants to be in the top two in England. He won every single round and it was non-stop; he was like a little dynamo.

“It’s a credit to him, the gym and the lads who he works with, but it’s also something positive coming out of one of the local schools.

“People say some schools are bad and are not up to standard, but they’ve got lads in there who are unnoticed.”

O’Reilly was given a bye to the final after his scheduled opponent was forced to withdraw from their semi-final late on due to a cut above the eye from his previous bout not healing in time.

He will take on Army boxer Carnell Brown in the 75-81kg category of the Class B senior championship, while Braithwaite is up against Arnold Obodai, of renowned London club Repton ABC, in the 91kg and above category.

Moses is delighted to see the club flying the flag for both the town and the county at this stage of the competition and is in a confident mood ahead of this weekend’s finals.

“It’s great for all three,” said Moses. “There are no other clubs from Cumbria who have got this far and it’s the fact we’ve got three from the same club.

“We are an established club and we’ve been going for a long time, but when you look at some of the other clubs, the facilities that they’ve got and the funding, you expect them to be producing champions.

“Some of their coaches are full-time and we’re just a small, local club, but we’re more than holding our own in the whole country, not just a little area.

“I’m confident for all three of them. There’s no doubt they’re not up to doing the job next week and we could come away with three England champions.”