THE first woman to box competitively in the history of Droitwich Amateur Boxing Club has had a stirring debut at a charity tournament.

Jacquie Masters, aged 32, was so impressive in winning her bout against Claire McGiveney (Lye) at Ross-on-Wye last Friday, the contest was judged the best bout of the night.

Both women were presented with an award by guest of honour and former World Featherweight Champion, Barry McGuigan.

In a spirited contest, the decision could have gone either way but Masters, from Redditch, clinched a split decision with good attacks in the second and third rounds.

National schoolboy semi-finalists, Michael Pardoe and Marc Bonehill, both had warm-up contests for their championship bouts this Saturday. The pair faced former Welsh Schools champions and both won convincingly.

Pardoe's contest with Russell Pearce (Newtown) was stopped in the second round with Pearce suffering a groin strain while Bonehill took a unanimous points decision from Merthyr's Ryan Evans. The 16-year-old was personally congratulated by McGuigan.

Club coach Chris Andrews said: "We took these bouts very much for preparation purposes, the winning was a bonus and a tribute to the talent of both boys.

"We have been working on various aspects in the gym and wanted to try them out in contest conditions."

Andy Ogden, aged 15, put the disappointment of losing in the Midland Schools Finals last week with a first round knock out against James Prior (Broad Plain, Bristol).

Thirteen-year-old Sean Donnelly put in another sparkling performance but lost a split decision to schoolboy national semi-finalist Jimmy Connors (Broad Plain).