‘I WILL SURPRISE PEOPLE’
Aaron Bowen outlines his plans at 80kgs, where he could encounter an old rival of Sergey Kovalev
ONE of the facts of life Aaron Bowen soon discovered is, if you have red hair and come from Coventry, you need to be able to fight.
“There was always fighting where I grew up,” said the 23-year-old. “We were always fighting each other. It was a rough area, but I’ve got red hair and an Irish family, so I always had fighting in me.”
These days Bowen fights for medals rather than to settle scores and his next target is the Commonwealth Games. Bowen knows he won’t be the most established name at 80kgs in Birmingham, but believes his appetite for fighting gives him a chance to win gold.
“I fight to the final bell,” said Bowen, who trains at Boxsmart Elite in Walsall after starting at Triumph ABC. “I remember a judge telling me after a fight in Macedonia: ‘You won that fight in the last 10 seconds.’ At this level the fights are usually very close and you can nick a decision in the last few seconds. That suits me. I love biting down and fighting.”
That was the story of his 2019 Elite final against George Crotty (Royal Navy).
In the semi-finals, Bowen had shocked Karol Itauma, the 2018 Youth Olympic champion and now an unbeaten pro, and the last round of the final in Manchester was one of the best of the championship.
“I threw a lot of shots,” said Bowen.
“It was constant work. He threw flurries and I kept answering with big shots. He dropped his hands in the dying seconds and I didn’t have time to think whether it was a trap or not. I just thought: ‘Happy days!’ and started hitting him.”
Though Bowen won the title again last year – and was named Best Boxer – there were still a few raised eyebrows when he was picked ahead of Crotty for the Commonwealth Games. Crotty had been to the World and European Championships, but made early exits from both, while Bowen has been picking up medals.
Bowen feels he could be one of the stars in Birmingham.
“I’ve had 80 fights and most of them have been exciting,” said Bowen, who won Commonwealth Youth Games gold in the Bahamas in 2017. “I feel I have a fan-friendly style. Every fight I give my all. I have that will to win, whether it’s a club show or I’m fighting a world champion. I always dig in. I hate losing.
“I read there could be 1.5 billion people watching the Commonwealth Games, so there could be a few million people watching the boxing asking: ‘Who’s that ginger-haired kid swinging?’ People like to see exciting fights and I’m always in exciting fights.
“I’ve got the chance to make a name for myself doing what I love and it doesn’t get much better than that. This could work out very well for me.”
Bowen says the dream is to face Sean Lazzerini (Scotland) in the final.
“We’ve never sparred each other,” said Bowen of a fighter who lost a split decision to Clay Waterman (Australia) in the last 16 on the Gold Coast four years ago.
“But I’ve seen him and know he’s a strong, come-forward fighter. It would be an exciting final for the fans.
“If I want to win gold, I’m going to have to beat some good fighters. It’s a stacked weight division and it looks up for grabs. I haven’t been to major tournaments and people might not know who Bowen is. I think I will surprise people.”
Bowen says he’s been impressed by Ashish Kumar after watching the Indian during a training camp in Belfast last week and could also come up against a former world-class pro in Birmingham.
Ismayl Sillah, beaten in two rounds by a peak Sergey Kovalev in a WBO title challenge in 2013, has been picked to represent Sierra Leone at 80kgs.
The 37-year-old was born in Ukraine and is currently based in California but qualifies for the West African country through his father.
He told Boxing News it is 14 years since he last boxed as an amateur and that he is “not 100 per cent certain” to be competing in Birmingham because, at the time of writing, he was still waiting for his visa.
Sillah was a worldclass amateur, winning silver at World (2005) and European Championships (2006). He was handed a twoyear drugs ban after qualifying for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Sillah has a 27-7 pro record, losing four of his last six at a good level.
“He obviously thinks he can win gold,” said Bowen, “but he’s been a pro for a long time, so he may have slowed. People might be worried about him, but I have fought names before and if you over-think it, you can dig yourself into a hole.
“You just have to go in there with an open mind and go for it.”
‘AT THIS LEVEL YOU CAN NICK A DECISION IN THE LAST FEW SECONDS. THAT SUITS ME’