Body shots take toll on title hope Owen

Andy Owen…gave his all, but it was not enough

IF there is a God of boxing writers, an entity watching down on fight game scribes, Andy Owen – a thoroughly decent family man – would today be Midlands champ.

That was the Cinderella story – and I’d written the first three paragraphs before 35-year-old Owen had entered the ring to face Michael Stephenson on BCB Promotions’ major bill at the Hangar Events venue, Wolverhampton.

If there was any justice in this unforgiving sport, Stephenson, from Bedworth, would’ve paid the price for stepping on the scales for their Midlands title super-middle contest four pounds overweight.

As a result, the 10 rounder became a battle for the vacant light-heavyweight belt.

I have mixed emotions about that decision. I began writing about boxing in the 1970s and have been lucky enough to cover the game around the globe.

Back then, area titles really meant something, they represented a significant step-up on the road to national and international honours.

Five decades ago, the decision to simply move a signed and sealed Midlands title fight from one weight division to another would not have been rubber-stamped.

Frankly, back then, Owen, with one loss in five going into the contest, and 7-1 Stephenson would not have been deemed worthy to fight for the Midlands belt.

But this is boxing in 2023, these are the cards that are dealt.

Owen, billed out of Perton, but now living in Shifnal, must surely have been rattled by the shenanigans and drama of the day before weigh-in.

He had boiled his long body down to 12st, only to find he was fighting at a heavier weight he had not trained for.

That, at the least, is not sporting, although Owen has declined to comment.

In the ring, he gave it his all, but suffered a sustained body barrage and, by the end, his flanks were crimson. He was, at the final bell, well beaten: 99-92 on referee Kevin Parker’s card. I had the same score.

Owen can walk away from the bout with head held high. He contested the action, brought blood from Stephenson’s mouth and nose in the fourth and – down the stretch – produced enough to suggest his edge in fitness may pay dramatic dividends.

It was not to be.

Stephenson fought almost exclusively on the inside. He’d stick on Owen’s chest, roll under blows, then work the body. He made Andy fight his fight and two rights to the midriff in the seventh hurt the local favourite and had him backing off. He was also temporarily frozen by a right to the body in the fifth.

 Those shots appeared to stay with Andy throughout the rest of the fight.

He had his best moments in the eighth as he attempted to stage a late rally. Stephenson refused to be budged and kept digging-in body shots until the final bell.

On social media, Owen said: “I give It my all last night and I don't want to make excuses. The better kid won on the night, he caught me with a body shot a few rounds in and, for the middle rounds, I had no legs. It just took everything. I don’t know whether the 5lb on the scales he was heavier made a difference - others can be the judge of that.

“I'm just gutted I didn't get the win. I managed to stick in there and rally the last few rounds, just wasn't enough to get the win.

“I just want to say a massive thank you to (trainer) Richard Carter who got me in tremendous condition for this fight and get me under the super middleweight limit. “Training was great, everything went perfectly, really. I sparred top quality lads and made sure no stone was left unturned.”