RISING star Ivy-Jane Smith is the toast of Dorset after winning a national title at the England Boxing Junior and Junior Cadet Championships.

Ivy-Jane, who boxes out of Ferndown ABC, was crowned champion in the under-52kg female category at Ponds Forge International Sports Centre in Sheffield on Sunday.

The highly-rated 15-year-old recorded a technical knockout against Boston ABC’s Angelica Finch when the bout was stopped inside the first round.

Ivy-Jane added to her ABA national title from 2013 and enhanced her growing reputation as one of the most talented young boxers in the country with a superb display.

The teenager was supported by a group of members from Ferndown ABC who had journeyed to south Yorkshire from the club’s headquarters on Whittle Road, Ferndown Industrial Estate.

Ivy-Jane also had her mother and father watching on from the crowd, while Ferndown ABC head coach Jay Weaver and assistant coach Stefan Swanson were in her corner.

Coach Weaver, who is the father of professional boxer Iain Weaver, told the Daily Echo: “She is a very talented boxer and very strong. She performed very well in the final, she was calm and cool.

“She did everything by the book. Everything we had told her before the fight, she did. We were very pleased with her performance.

“In my opinion, she has all the attributes to go on to do great things on the amateur and international scene. One of the England coaches in Sheffield said that out of all the female boxers there, she was far superior to any of them.”

Ivy-Jane is due to have her international medical later this week before heading to Birmingham for a further assessment ahead of representing England in a three nations event involving Scotland and Wales next month.