Cape York Boxing Weipa competitors strike a pose with coach Scott Wallace ahead of their Sunstate Amateur Boxing League bouts in Tully on 13 April. Photo: Facebook.
When your boxing club boasts fighters in eight bouts of a 14-bout card, people are going to stand up and take notice.
That was the situation in Tully on 13 April when five Weipa and three Napranum youth – all members of Cape York Boxing Weipa – stepped into the ring to show off their athleticism and skills in front of a strong Sunstate Amateur Boxing League (SABL) crowd.
The boxers – Jack Barton, Daniel Low, Maurice Brumby, Harrison Klein, Rubyn Olsen, Jet Savo, Samson Poi Poi and Troy Hudson – made the nearly 1,000 kilometre trip to compete in stifling humidity, with several donning the gloves for the first time competitively.
In a mixed result, Barton and Low thrilled the crowd with victories, while the remainder of the western Cape York contingent impressed, despite being on the wrong side of the scorecard when the bell sounded in the third round.
Coach Scott Wallace travelled with his fighters and said “everybody was an absolute superstar, win or lose”.
“The biggest thing with the first fight is the nerves, and that normally makes them tire out and gas out, but all our first fighters just went to work and didn’t make any silly mistakes,” he said.
“They just boxed; they stuck to the fight plan and everything else followed.
“Three or four of them got beaten in the last round and I think the humidity was the telling factor; I’m not making excuses, but they are used to training in a much drier environment.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better and tougher bunch of blokes.”
Barton remains undefeated in his two bouts against Maximus Williscroft in the 75 kilogram division, and Mr Wallace praised the result as the rising Weipa boxer’s best fight to date.
“It’s the best fight he’s ever fought,” he said.
“The lad he fought was a real boxer, and Jack beat him with a combination of boxing and brawling.
“He absolutely dominated every round; the power of his body shots and right crosses, and the sound of the punches hitting … it was amazing to be part of it.”
With a growing number of male and female boxers joining the club’s ranks from Weipa and Napranum, Mr Wallace said he was hoping to take another cohort of fighters to Babinda on 25 May for the next event on the 2024 SABL calendar.
“It was just the most amazing thing to watch these boys,” he said.
“I couldn’t have been prouder.”
Napranum boxers Jet Savo, Maurice Brumby and Troy Hudson check out Tully’s Golden Gumboot before they step into the ring. Photo: Facebook.
