Bury St Edmunds-born and former Breckland School pupil Kieren Keen, from Brandon, ‘classes ahead’ in professional debut at York Hall

Kieren Keen has been hailed for being ‘classes ahead’ of his opponent after he was victorious in his first professional bout on Saturday.

The 22-year-old from Brandon who trains at LS Fitness in Rickinghall, defeated Columbian Joshua Ocampo, who already had 42 professional fights to his name – winning all four rounds 40-36.

More than 130 ‘Keen Army’ members travelled from Suffolk and Norfolk to support the fighter, who goes by the name of ‘The Golden Boy’, at London’s York Hall at the weekend. And Keen certainly made their journey worthwhile, announcing himself to the professional boxing world in style.

Keen, speaking to talkSPORT boxing and FightZone after the bout, said: “I’m over the moon, I can’t believe it, it’s brilliant.

“I was born to do this, so I knew it was coming one day.

“We brought the whole of the Keen Army tonight but trust me, next time there will be more.

“It’s the people you meet, the experiences you gain and they all lead to these good days.

“I’m ready to go next week if they want, let’s get it moving.”

Keen’s father and coach, Darrel Keen, echoed his enthusiasm to return to the ring, and to York Hall, hinting that another fight in the capital could be on the cards in December.

The debutant, who trained at Mike Tyson’s gym in Saudi Arabia in the lead-up to his debut pro fight, is said to have caught the eyes of many after Saturday’s performance.

“Kieren was too big, too fit and too strong for his opponent, he just came in and bossed it,” said Darrel.

“It was like he was classes ahead. It was a very dominant performance, there were little shots where he just missed and if they had landed, then that guy was going to sleep.

“But he (Ocampo) was a tricky customer, he’s an experienced fighter.

“Kieren caught him with a huge left hook to the body and the guy kept that covered for the rest of the fight.

“Kieran Farrell (Keen’s promoter) said it’s one of the best debuts he’s ever seen from one of his fighters: performance, maturity, intelligence and listening.”

Keen spent the evening thanking each supporter for making the journey to London before making the trip back to Suffolk with his father.

The pair revealed they spent the whole car journey back from the fight revelling over the former Breckland School pupil’s achievements and stayed up until 5am dissecting his latest performance.

Full of praise for his son’s consistency and attitude, Darrel said: “Even when he didn’t have a fight lined up, he was still training and staying ready.

“You can see how well Kieren has looked after himself. He’s never drunk, he’s never smoked, he’s never been a night-clubber.

“When he was a kid I used to say to him ‘when the other boys are doing nine press-ups, I want you doing 11.’

“We take that mentality into everything we do.

“We all sit down as a family together, we all work hard together and it’s that consistent training that we’ve driven into him.”