A boxer who opted against pursuing an Olympic place with Team GB says the decision is paying off after winning the first professional title of his career.
Aaron Bowen, who won Commonwealth Games bronze in Birmingham in 2022, claimed the Midlands super-middleweight belt with a unanimous points victory over Klinton Baptiste in Birmingham.
The 27-year-old said the win marked another step towards his ambition of becoming a world champion.
"It's my first belt as a professional and that will be with me for life now, no-one can ever take that away from me," he said.
Bowen secured the British Boxing Board of Control's Midlands title at Birmingham's Utilita Arena in just his ninth professional bout.
The Coventry fighter turned professional after the Commonwealth Games rather than competing for a place in Team GB's Olympic squad, despite admitting he had dreamed of fighting on the sport's biggest amateur stage.
"There were a lot of us going for that one spot and I just thought, 'strike while the iron's hot'," he said.
"I had the opportunity to turn professional and reach my goal of becoming a world champion."
Bowen said another factor in his decision was catching the eye of leading promoter Eddie Hearn during the Games in Birmingham.
"He'd watched the fight, luckily it was in Birmingham, and he'd seen probably 1,000 Coventry supporters watching me win the bronze medal," he said.
"The noise was electric."
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Despite a successful amateur career, Bowen described winning his first professional title as a surreal moment.
"I think it's so nice now and no-one can take this. Whatever happens now, I've always been a Midlands champion," he said.
"I want so much more but it's just a nice, proud feeling that a younger me would be proud of right now."
The next step on Bowen's path towards a world title is a shot at the England championship, with British, Commonwealth and European honours likely to follow if he continues his unbeaten rise through the ranks.
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