Stoke Newington boxer sets his sights on Prizefighter bonanza

Stoke Newington welterweight Erick Ochieng returns to the ring on Saturday night for the 33rd edition of the Prizefighter series at York Hall, Bethnal Green.

Since turning professional in 2009, Ochieng has excelled at light-middleweight winning the English title and defending the belt three times.

However, he relinquished the title in favour of a shot at Liam Smith’s British title where he was beaten on points back in September 2013. If successful, ‘The Eagle’ will become the second boxer from Hackney to take home the cash prize after fellow Haringey ABC amateur Larry Ekundayo claimed the light-middleweight trophy.

Along with Ochieng, other fighters expected to feature on Eddie Hearn’s promising show are former European lightweight champion Jason Cook and Commonwealth Games gold medallist Paddy Gallagher.

Others on the card are Mark Douglas, Johnny Coyle, Johnny Garton, Dean Byrne and Sam Eggington who will all be after the £32,000 prize money.

Lion ABC’s Amo Singh narrowly missed out in his attempt to reach the national schools’ final as he lost a close majority decision on Sunday.

Boxing in the Class B Under-34kg semi-final at Feltham Community College, Singh faced Henry Collins (Sporting Ring ABC), an opponent he had beaten 18 months earlier.

However, Collins used the extra height he has gained since their first meeting to his advantage and the Lion boxer found it difficult to get under his opponent’s long reach.

The majority decision could have gone either way, but it was Collins whose arm was raised at the end of a hard-fought contest.