Zouhou flies flag for Stratford in national final

In the semi-final, both boxers took to the centre of the ring early on in the first round and neither were willing to give any ground.

Towards the end of the first round, Zouhou’s workrate was starting to take its toll on The Zone boxer Culshaw.

Zouhou came out in the second round and took control of the bout and towards the end of the round the referee stepped in and gave Culshaw a standing count.

The Stratford ace picked up where she left off by dominating the third round. After one minute the referee stepped in and stopped the bout.

Sunday’s bout against O’Neill, from St Paul ABC, was always going to be her toughest to date.

Zouhou came out strongly and was on top in the opening two rounds, but O’Neill hit back in the third and fourth round and her experience ultimately proved the difference.

“Miriam boxed extremely well for the amount of bouts she’s had,” said head coach Mat Pickering.

“It was very close and could have gone either way. It’s been a great learning curve for Miriam and she can take a lot of positives from it.

“Miriam gave it her all and everybody at the club is very proud of her.”