Owen is back with a chance for the title

Macauley Owen…out in December, then the big one

FOR Telford’s Macauley Owen light is finally piercing the gloom of a last minute withdrawal from his first televised show.

The 26-year-old was to have fought on July’s scintillating bill in his home district, topped by Liam Davies’ one round destruction of Jason Cunningham. As amateurs, he and Liam fought out of the same Donnington gym.

He even weighed-in for his clash with Honduran Jayro Fernando Duran. But, heartbreakingly, he was forced to pull out after succumbing to a bug.

Now the Owen show, guided by Frank Warren, is back on the road after six wins on the spin.

He and Wolverhampton’s Clayton Bricknell have been matched for the Midlands super-featherweight title. The Board of Control’s Midlands area council has asked for purse bids to be submitted.

Bricknell’s patchy record of four wins in 13 (one draw) masks the man’s toughness. Last time out, he scored a huge upset by demolishing Joe Hughes in a single round. He is not to be underestimated.

“It’s good news,” Owen, trained by Shiney Singh, told me. “I did spar with Clayton, he’s a tough lad, strong. I’m 10 times better than when we sparred and I’m sure he’s better, too.

“I’m not looking past Clayton, but the Midlands is the first step to where I want to be. The weight will be fine – last time I was only a pound over the limit.”

Macauley will tune up with a bout on a BCB bill late in December.

It’s good to see the top amateur again firing on all cylinders after losing out on his first TV performance through illness. When I spoke to Macauly two days after the cancellation, he was devastated.

“I was in the shape of my life,” he told me today. “I could’ve really done with that fight. To get that close to being on TV…I was confident I was going to take that lad out. It was disappointing, but things happy for a reason.”