Several fighters from Camira-based boxing gym Warrior Boxing made impressive strides at the Boxing Queensland Novice titles held on March 8 at the Mermaid Waters Hotel.
The Boxing Queensland Novice titles bring together some of the best emerging boxers in the region to compete across three days.
“The novice championships is one of the highlights of the boxing calendar,” said Johnny.
“It brings all of the best boxers together, and it’s like a stepping stone towards the open stage of the Queensland State titles.”
The event is structured to accommodate boxers at different stages of their careers, with categories ranging from zero to five fights, five to 10 fights, and 15 to 20 fights.
“Once they do 21 fights, they must leave the novice titles and enter the open novice championship,” said Black.
One of the standout stories from the event was the victory of 15-year-old Oscar Black, the son of Johnny Black, who had been aiming for the novice title for some time and became the 70kg junior novice champion.
“The only medal my son Oscar hadn’t won in boxing for Boxing Queensland all this time was the novice title,” Black said.
“Throughout his boxing career, he always got beat in the final and this was his last chance of winning it, so it was awesome for Oscar. He got a good win there.”
Another rising star from Warrior Boxing is 17-year-old Forest Lake local Dylan Watson, who had an impressive run at the Novice titles and who is currently on a five-fight win streak.
“Dylan had three fights over the three days. He won his quarter, semi, and final for the gold,” Johnny said.
Johnny also highlighted the successes of 15-year-old Sienna Pannell, who is the current state champion and golden gloves winner, and 15-year-old Daniel Sebelius, who has only been boxing for 18 months. Both earned silver medals for the club.
Warrior Boxing had a strong showing overall, with two gold and two silver medals from their four boxers.
“All our athletes are extremely dedicated and push each other to strive to be the best,” Johnny said.
“It’s a nice feeling that all their hard work is paying off.”
