Owen's championship win resulted in him becoming a possible challenger for the British bantamweight champion Paddy Maguire. To move into contention, Owen was booked to fight Scottish bantamweight champion Johnny Kellie at the Albany Hotel in Glasgow. It was widely believed that the winner would be booked as Maguire's next opponent. During the fight, Owen became infuriated with Kellie's tactics, as his opponent relied on holding when Owen was gaining the advantage, and he believed the referee was not penalising Kellie for it. Further issues were raised when Owen lost his gumshield and the referee forced him to continue without it. Owen was spurred on by these irritations and knocked Kellie down twice in quick succession before the referee stopped the fight in the sixth round. When the offer of a British title fight with Maguire never materialised, Owen instead fought debutant fighter Terry Hanna at Ebbw Vale Leisure Centre in June 1977, defeating him with a fourth-round knockout. Further disappointment followed as Maguire took a fight against Franco Zurlo in September of the same year, leaving Owen with an offer of a second rematch against George Sutton on only three days' notice. The fight took place at Midland Social Club in Solihull and Sutton proved a sterner test than most had anticipated in the early rounds, landing a