go ahead, Ferreri dropped his request for the fight to be based in Australia and accepted a bout with Owen in Ebbw Vale on 2 November 1978. Ferreri was described by The Times as "world class opposition, such as Owen has never faced before." A former holder of the Commonwealth title, he entered the fight with nearly 70 professional bouts to Owen's 16 and had never been beaten by a British fighter. Ferreri proved a stern test for Owen, with his counter-punching style causing the Welshman problems in the opening rounds. By the eleventh round of the fifteen-round contest, The Times judged the fight to be "fascinatingly poised" but Owen's renowned stamina and the eight-year age gap proved telling as he was described as "covering the last four rounds of the fight like a sprinter". The referee awarded the fight 148–145 in Owen's favour and both fighters received plaudits from the capacity crowd; Ferreri was given a standing ovation by the largely Welsh crowd and Owen was carried to the dressing room on the shoulders of his team in celebration. Both Owen and the fight received several plaudits in annual award ceremonies, including Owen being named Best Young Fighter by the Boxing Writers' Club, becoming only the third Welshman after Howard Winstone and Dai Dower to receive the award. Owen was also named BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year for 1978, becoming the first boxer to win the award since Winstone more than a decade earlier. European bantamweight title challenge Owen's victory led him to challenge for the division's European title, held by Juan Francisco Rodríguez of Spain. The fight was originally scheduled for the end of 1978 but Rodríguez withdrew from the bout due to a case of flu, and it was rearranged for three months later. It was Owen's eighteenth contest and his first overseas, taking place in the champion's hometown of Almería. The fight was preceded by a series of allegations of foul play by Owen's camp. He was promised the use of the same training facilities as the champion in the afternoons, once Rodríguez had finished his sessions. In practice, however, Owen and his team often found themselves waiting at the gym for Rodríguez to finish his training, taking up hours of Owen's sessions. At the weigh-in, Owen was marginally overweight, prompting a last minute training session involving running up and down the hotel stairs