Vaughan bags professional win number eight as Team Shoe-Box fighters shine

Vaughan was one of four fighters to take to the ring from the Harlestone Road gym, with all of them claiming victories, while former Northampton ABC man Yousuf Ibrahim also notched another win.

There was a sell-out crowd in attendance, and headliner Vaughan produced a solid shutout six-round victory over Cheshire's Arrowsmith.

Arrowsmith was unlikely to cause former amateur standout Vaughan too much trouble, but it was more unscathed needed rounds for the Northampton man as he eyes title challenges as soon as possible.

There was a late change of opponent for Nico Michael, who came up against former foe Steven Maguire and won all four rounds to ease to victory.

Shoe-Box head trainer James Conway said: "The fight gave us the opportunity to measure the progress Nico is making as he dropped a round last time the two guys met.

"This time was better and Nico won each round convincingly, so hopefully this has given him a real boost as we are now looking to step him up to a few six rounds contests before positioning him into title contention.”

Desborough's Klinton Baptiste, who hails from Luton, made an impressive debut at the age of 33 as he convincingly beat Lithuanian Genady Krajevski 40-35 over four rounds, achieving a knockdown along the way.

Baptiste is looking to fast track a campaign at either super middleweight or middleweight with the ShoeBox team.

Doina Costin opened the show, and the ex-Team Shoe-Box amateur was also making her professional debut.

She ran out a comfortable winner over Sherri Barnes of Sheffield, who was taking part in her fourth contest.

“We’d like to keep Doina busy in learning fights for a while,” said Conway.

"She is still very short of ring experience with less than 10 fights in her lifetime, as she had just six amateur contests before turning to the pro ranks.

"So it’s imperative we get some rounds in before making a big step up in class.”

The other fight saw Northampton's Ibrahim take on Nabil Ahmed and he impressed as he secured a 40-37 points victory for a fifth win out of five as pro.

Ahmed had previously lost over four rounds to Nico Michael at the same venue last June.

As he did on that occasion, the Batley-based Ahmed showed himself to be a good test for Ibrahim, who boxed well to run out the winner.

In other news, Team Shoe-Box fighter Tyselle Walfall is stepping up to the professional ranks.

Black Country Boxing have announced the signing of the Northampton fighter who is another product of the Shoe-Box pathway - developing amateurs into professionals.

Walfall made rapid improvements after first taking to the canvas under the Shoe-Box banner in September 2021.

He became a two-time national finalist (2022 & 2023), two-time regional champion and is the current East Midlands Elite belt holder.

He will be looking to make his pro debut in the next 12 weeks.