Jack Barton, pictured during his recent Golden Gloves win, will don the gloves in front of the biggest crowd of his boxing career in Cairns on Wednesday night. Photo: Supplied (Michelle Evans).
He has delivered some knockout blows in his short boxing career, but Weipa’s Jack Barton will be aiming to produce the performance of a lifetime in Cairns on Wednesday night.
Barton has been invited to join the card for No Limit Boxing’s double header at the Cairns Convention Centre on 25 June, which will be headlined by former world champion Liam Paro and two-time world title challenger Liam Wilson.
The undercard bout comes of the back of the 17-year-old’s impressive Golden Gloves win in Townsville last month in the 81 kilogram intermediate division.
Barton told Cape York Weekly he felt “a lot more confident and a lot stronger being at a more natural weight” and is expected to dominate when he dons the gloves in front of more than 2,500 boxing fans in Cairns.
Cape York Boxing Weipa founder and coach Scott Wallace described his fighter’s call-up to the big stage as “our club’s dream”.
“From the point of view of a grassroots boxing coach, it doesn’t get any better – it’s the pinnacle,” he said.
“We never expected an offer like this; we never even dreamed about an offer like this.
“Being a bush boxing coach, I always thought I’d get my fighters to a certain level, then I’d send them off to somebody else.
“To be able to fight in front of this many people in Cairns, it’s our fighter’s dream, it’s our club’s dream and it’s our coach’s dream.”
He added the bout was the next step on the path to Barton realising his potential as a rising star in the ring.
“People don’t realise the hours that we put in – the blood, sweat and the tears to get to something like this big show in Cairns,” Mr Wallace said.
“It’s probably a couple of years earlier than we were expecting Jack to get there; we’ve got big dreams for him.”
The fight will be Barton’s final hit out before the club hosts Weipa Fight Night 2.0 on 19 July, an event Mr Wallace said would provide more than just thrills in the ring.
“There’s going to be a lot of loud, snappy music, a lot of bright lights, a very loud entrepreneur commentator – it’s more of a show than just people jumping in the ring and punching on,” he explained.
“Everybody mentioned what a great show it was two years ago because of the entertainment value.”
