The Catholic Club's Shauna Brazell and Headland ABC's Savannah Marshall are both in the finals of their respective weights at the senior female ABAs, in Aldershot on Saturday.



But both fighters face a number of hurdles in their way if they are to bring the gold back to town.

Brazell takes on Brunell University fighter Preya Dhanecha and faces a tough task as one of the youngest and most inexperienced in the competition at only 17-years-old.

She is also likely to be giving away a weight advantage to Dhanecha, with the Hartlepool boxer a couple of kilogrammes below the 48kg section limit.

But Catholic Club head coach Paul Allen is confident Brazell can take the gold in only her fifth contest.

Allen said: "She is looking well and has looked nice and tidy in the gym, plus she is full of guts.

"She is not a bad little boxer and she will be up for it."

Brazell has received byes to go automatically to the final, with a lack of competitors in the weight category.

She will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of fellow Catholic Club fighters Amanda Coulson, who took the ABA title in 2006 and 2007, and Callum Winton, who won the junior ABA gold last month.

Meanwhile, Marshall's biggest obstacle could be her own condition, rather than the attributes of her opponent.

England junior international Marshall has been hampered over the last couple of weeks with blood condition anaemia which has severely curtailed her training.

The 17-year-old, who is also in her maiden senior ABAs, was diagnosed with the disease 18 months ago, but her energy levels have dropped dramatically over the last couple of weeks.

Headland coach Tim Coulter thought Marshall may have to withdraw from the competition earlier in the week, but he gave her a fitness test on Tuesday night and noticed a dramatic improvement – brought about by a course of iron supplements.

Coulter said: "I had her five minutes on the rowing machine and a sprint around the block and she managed it fine, whereas when she was on it a week ago she couldn't even manage three minutes.

"If it has improved in that short period of time, it is worth the risk."

Marshall is up against Kelly O'Neill, but Coulter thinks his fighter will have enough to take gold, even if she is not 100 per cent.

Coulter is particularly keen for Marshall to gain victory as it would open up more doorways for the teenager.

She has struggled to find sufficient opponents in her 70kg weight category, but winning the ABAs could provide a platform to face fighters across Europe – something fellow town boxer Coulson has achieved successfully.

"I am not being overconfident, but even with her being under par, there are not many who can live with her," he said.

"Even England struggle to find opponents for her but if she wins this, she will start going to a few more of these tournament like Amanda Coulson is doing."