Loughran two fights away from the title
Charlie Loughran (right) with Matty Scott after last weekend’s bout
EMERGING Coventry heavyweight Charlie Loughran is two fights away from being crowned national amateur heavyweight champ.
Last weekend the Tile Hill prospect squeezed through the Manchester quarter-finals with split decision victory over Matty Scott from former pro champ Michael Jenning’s gym.
This weekend, the semi-finals and final take place in Cannock. The draw has yet to be made, but Charlie looks set to face Oliver Hockney from Middlesbrough.
“Locky” Loughran, just 19 and a product of the Toe 2 Toe gym, plans to turn professional next summer – and, at this stage, looks an exciting addition to the paid ranks. He’s already sparred top pros.
He’s now unbeaten in 12, has already claimed a major title at youth level and reached the national final of the novice championships, only to be ruled out for arriving at the weigh-in too late.
He admitted last weekend’s performance was not his best.
“I was a bit off,” Loughran said, “but I thought I’d done enough.
“We want to get a few more tournaments in before going pro. I’ll be boxing in Sweden next month, then maybe go over next May.”
Trainer Billy Parmar said: “Charlie and Matty are both tall, they were both cagey. But I thought the difference was Charlie was stepping forward, looking to take the fight to his opponent.
“It could’ve gone either way, but I felt Charlie did enough.
“It gets tougher from here, the guys that are left are experienced, but I believe Charlie can do it.”
Billy stressed his fighter remains a work in progress.
“There’s a lot more to come yet,” he added. “His amateur style is there, it’s about improving his boxing IQ, if you like, getting him to set traps, getting him to be a bit more patient. I’ve been showing videos of the greats.
“As an amateur, you can beat up people and when you get to a higher level and that doesn’t happen you’re stuck unless you know how to do something else.”
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