Benjamin Whittaker stands alone as Elite

The Wodensborough Boxing Club prospect's first senior year is going like a dream after the third national title of his young career, writes Craig Birch.

He'd already claimed 2011 National Ambition honours, England Youth honours last February and a silver medal at September's Commonwealth Youth Games.

The 18-year-old middleweight, from Darlaston, came into the Elite tournament on the back of the news he'd been picked for the Great Britain podium squad, too.

Whittaker went on a Merseyside mission as the second seed at 75kg with the quarters, semi and final all taking place over three days inside Liverpool's Echo Arena.

His finals weekend began with a routine victory over old rival Lewis Richardson, from Centurions in Colchester, which he took by unanimous points decision.

His semi-final 24 hours later put him up against imposing Pole Ryszard Lewicki, of Sheffield City, where Whittaker boxed smartly.

He moved well and attacked with fast hands to stay out of his opponent's range, easing to another unanimous success on the cards.

A decider came the following day came against Hoddesdon's Jordan Reynolds, which lived up to expectations as a cracker.

Whittaker was always in the ascendancy, though, often beating his adversary to the punch and throwing combinations, along with right uppercuts as they got in close.

Reynolds incited a brawl in the third and last round, leading to a scrappy final session, but it was Whittaker's who again prevailed unanimously. All five of his Elite wins have been by that verdict.

His bow saw him outclass Jared Doherty, from Eastside in Birmingham, before he vanquished another Brummie, the Jewellery Quarter's Jordan Thompson, in the West Midlands final.

Club-mate Lauren Johnson, boxing at the same weight in the female section, went down with seconds to spare of her semi-final.

The 32-year-old from Wolverhampton was stopped in the dying embers of her bout against Nikoletta Paksi, from Repton in London, with the fight already lost on the cards.

Warley's Solomon Dacres was left gob-smacked when his hand wasn't raised in the super heavyweight (91kg plus) semi-finals.

He was outpointed on a split against Kirkby's Alex Dickinson, who staged a late fightback and definitely won the third. However, Dacres had controlled the first two off the jab.

He came in fresh after a quarter-final bye despite being unseeded in a decimated division, with Josh Quailey and Daniel Dubois pulling out before the computerised draw was made.

Dacres looked in optimum shape and boxed well, having had weeks to train after securing his place unanimously by beating Aston's Joel Ducille.

Third seed Faluk Hussain, from Windmill in Smethwick, also sat out the first day with a walk over to the last four stage at 49kg.

Hussain, whose only Elite bout this year saw him see off Aston's Ijaz Sheik to claim the West Midlands title, was defeated unanimously by Sunderland's Kiaran MacDonald.