A boxer who is aiming for an Olympic place with Team GB says he is redeeming himself after winning the first professional title of his career.
Aaron Bowen, who won bronze at the 2022 Birmingham State Games, claimed the Middleweight super-middleweight belt with a unanimous points victory over Klinton Baptista in Birmingham.
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The 27-year-old said the victory marked another step towards his ambition to become the champion of the century.
“It’s my first professional belt and it will be with me for life, no one will ever take that away from me,” he said.
Bowen won the British Boxing World Championship title at Birmingham’s Utility Arena in just his ninth professional bout.
The Coventry fighter turned professional after the Commonwealth Games rather than compete for a place in the Team GB Olympic squad, although he admitted he dreamed of fighting on the sport’s biggest amateur stage.
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“We had a lot going for that one spot and I was just thinking, ‘The irons are hitting the heat,'” he said.
“This is an opportunity for me to turn professional and reach the goal of becoming a world champion.”
Bowen (right) won his first title belt in his ninth professional fight by unanimous decision [PA/ Nick Potts]
Bowen said another factor in the decision was catching the eye of promoter Eddie Hearn during the Birmingham Games.
“He had watched the fight, luckily he was in Birmingham and probably 1,000 Coventry fans were watching me win the bronze medal,” he said.
“The commotion was electric.”
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Despite a successful amateur career, Bowen describes his first professional title as a surreal moment.
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“I am now so beautiful, and no one can take this. Whatever happens now, I have always been a champion of the Midlands,” he said.
“I’m much more, but it’s nice, proud to feel proud of the younger me now.”
The next step on Bowen’s path to a world title is a shot at England’s championship, with British, Commonwealth and European honors likely to follow if he continues his unbeaten rise through the ranks.
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