an amateur but was advised by his new management that a ring name would benefit his career. Owen's initial suggestion was Sion Rhisart Owain, the Welsh translation of his given name, although he was dissuaded from this option as it was deemed too political. His brother Kelvin instead suggested adopting the name Johnny Owen. Owen's initial aspirations were low, Kelvin stated how Owen had turned professional with the ultimate aim of claiming a British title or a Lonsdale Belt. Nonetheless, Owen was driven to turn professional by a desire to support his family and escape his relatively poor upbringing. One of his former youth coaches stated his belief that Owen understood he could "fight and make money for his family. He wanted to buy them a house but, really, ... the reason he boxed was because he had to." His debut match ended with a one-point victory over fellow Welshman George Sutton, at Pontypool Leisure Centre, on 30 September; at the time, Sutton was ranked as the number three contender for the British title and had needed a challenger on short notice. His victory earned him his first professional purse of £125 (around £920 in 2021). The decision to fight an already established opponent proved astute as victory immediately saw Owen's standing rise in the boxing community. After his debut bout, Owen and his team agreed that he would not date during his professional career, with Owen believing that the dedication required to his career would be unfair on both him and his partner. His second fight was against Northern Irishman Neil McLaughlin in his opponent's home nation during the height of The Troubles. The card suffered several interruptions: there were angry outbursts when British soldiers entered the arena, a bomb threat was phoned in against the site and, during Owen's bout, the lights failed for several minutes. The fight ended in a controversial draw. Owen finished his first year as a professional by comfortably defeating Englishman Ian Murray in Tonypandy. He knocked Murray down twice before the referee stopped the fight in the seventh round. At the start of the following year, Owen met McLaughlin in a rematch in West Bromwich. Away from his opponent's home nation, the fight proved a more one-sided affair as Owen secured an 80–76 points victory. This led promoter Heddwyn Taylor to raise the idea of Owen challenging reigning champion George Sutton for the