BEAMINSTER kickboxer Gordon Childs has got his hands on his first British title, writes Rob Atkins.

The former amateur boxer won a unanimous points decision against Bury's Paul Greenhouse at Birmingham and with it bagged the amateur 78kg title.

Childs, who trains and fights out of West Dorset club Dorchester Kick, has had his eyes on a prize like this since taking up the sport nearly two years ago.

And, after a couple of setbacks during the summer, he realised his ambition.

"He has had a couple of bad runs recently but this weekend he did really well," said his coach Keith Adams.

"In his last two fights he has just been doing a couple of things wrong and has got caught. The skills have always been there, they are getting better all the time, and this weekend there was a big improvement in his performance.

"He did everything I told him to do, which was fantastic. We only found out about two weeks ago so we didn't have a lot of time to prepare but having said that we have been preparing for other fights so he is always fit."

"After the two losses his confidence was at an all time low but this has brought him right back up and made him an even better fighter again," added Adams. "We can definitely move forward now."

Childs is hungrier than ever now but his coach says he will hand pick his fights in the future.

"We are hoping to change his weight division now," he said. "He always struggles to get to the 78kg or 80kg mark so we are dropping down to below the 75kg mark."

Childs is most likely to return to action next month at a show in Weston-super-Mare or possibly Bournemouth. Adams doesn't discount a return to Birmingham either.

Elsewhere in the Dorchester Kick squad Tom Lawson had a confidence building fight. He lost on a decision that could have gone either way but fought well.

And Adams also highlighted Dave Gower as one to watch. He is a powerful fighter who has had four fights and won two of them inside the early skirmishes.