BOXING: THE best young boxers in the south west descend on Stratton tomorrow night as Walcot ABC host the Western Counties Schoolboy Finals for the first time.

Six Golden Gloves contests will provide the highlight of the evening at the Premeir Club for what promises to be a feast of quality boxing.

Walcot's Joe Rees leads the hosts' hopes.

The unbeaten 14-year-old will be competing in the Class 3 50kg category against James Randell from Barnstaple ABC.

This will be a tough encounter for the Gorse Hill youngster, as although talented, he is inexperienced at this level.

Walcot's other Golden Gloves entrants Joe Buckley,12, Tom Fynn, 13, and Jorgen Cetaj, 14, have all received byes and become Western Counties Champions without lacing a glove.

They will compete in a fortnight at the National quarter-finals against the Southern Counties.

Malmesbury's Sam Jenner faces Jamell Sandham of Launceston in the Class 3 54 to 57kg showpiece.

Supporting Saturday's championship contests will be a mixture of junior and senior Walcot boxers.

Heavyweight seniors Mark Beano' Reynolds and Mark Powell will both be facing opponents from Slough ABC, while the stylish 17-year-old Danny Bharj will oppose Dean Mills of Sydenham ABC, Somerset.

Young England representative Chris Higgs,18, of Lydney ABC in the Forest of Dean is involved in a potential cracker against ABA quarter-finalist Ian Bailey of Slough ABC.

Walcot juniors Tommy McDonagh, Ryan Martin, Connor Wells, Josh Mayo, Luke Wearne, Owen Mc Donagh and Sam Lawless are also matched to perform in front of their home crowd.

Walcot chairman Dave Veysey said: "In addition to the championship bouts, coaches Harry Scott and Dave Holyday have arranged many good quality supporting contests and I would like to thank them for the hard work they have put in to produce such an impressive undercard. "

Doors open at 6pm and the boxing commences at 7.30pm.