AFTER two previous skills bouts, Harwich Boxing Club's Leo Carty took the plunge into full competitive boxing at the Colchester ABC show at St Benedicts School.

In the opposing corner was Lukas Zillinskas from the City of Hull club in Yorkshire and the 11-year-old Harwich boxer made a cautious opening.

However, Carty soon found his range with straight shots from distance and as the the contest evolved, his confidence improved as he fired off neat salvos of combination punches.

After three rounds, Carty took a deserved unanimous points win to score a winning debut victory.

The following day, 15-year-old Stevie Martin travelled to Grantham to contest the national junior semi-finals against last year's finalist Harry Kinsella from Merseyside.

With close to 50 bouts experience - twice that of Martin's - Kinsella put his extra knowhow to good use as he scored effectively from distance in the opening two rounds rounds.

Undeterred, Martin posted an excellent last session to take the round, however, not the decision as he went down on points.