HALSTEAD Boxing Club are celebrating the crowning of two county champions after the Senior Development Essex Association Championship finals at Billericay and Wickford ABC.

Jason Bradley was matched against Billericay and Wickford's Lewis Hayward in the under-75kg final and the four-round thriller proved to be the best bout of the evening.

The Halstead man had to deal with his opponent trying to steal the points in the early part of the fight with his two-handed aggressive style.

However, Bradley found the target with long lefts to the head and body, which was significant as the round went on as Hayward started to tire while the Halstead boxer kept in there, applying pressure and scoring with hooks and right crosses.

It was again Bradley who set the pace in the second round.

Hayward found it difficult to find the tall Halstead man with his jab and right crosses as Bradley leaned back and quickly pounced with his own blows.

During the round, Bradley continued to land long lefts to the body and followed up with left hooks to the head.

He even succeeded with right-hand shots to Hayward's mid-rift and when the Billericay man fell short of the target near the end of the round, Bradley slipped inside and worked away with eye-catching shots.

In the third, Bradley was first out of the blocks and his higher work-rate saw him take the round , while the fourth and final round had both boxers giving their all, but an accidental clash of heads saw Hayward sustain a severe cut above his left eye and the bout was called to a halt.

As determined by the competition rules, the decision went to the judges' scores and Bradley won by a unanimous points decision.

Halstead's other senior boxer at the event was James Blore and he also came away with a title, however, he had to be content with gaining his Senior Under 20 Bouts Development title by a walkover as his opponent failed to make the weight in the class B under-69kg final.

Both Bradley and Blore are now due to compete for the Eastern Counties titles tomorrow.