By Ron Lane
ON Saturday evening – for the eighth year in a row – the Impact Boxing Academy Cooroy, The Home of the Young Guns, played host to yet another successful evening of boxing.
One of the reasons for the success of the evening was the on-going support of the Noosa District State High School.
For the entire eight years the school has provided their gymnasium as the site for the tournament.
Owner and head coach of Impact Academy Mark Evans said, “The support of the High School has been fantastic and it is the major factor in making the evening a success.”
With an estimated crowd of some 400 fans in attendance and a program of forty-four fights, the evening was definitely full on.
It was good to see that forty different clubs from all over the state were represented.
With top fighters from both the youth and elite divisions on the card, the standard was in the words of one Queensland official “very high indeed.”
It was good to see that Noosa Box Office (NBO) club was one of those in attendance.
“We brought a team of five fighters,” said coach Israel Kani, “and we are glad to be here; not only for our fighters but also to give Mark and his crew every bit of support we can.”
There can be no doubt that the vote for the fight of the evening, was between Jackson King of Kanis NBO gym and Sean Bloor of Valley PCYC.
Both fighters, who box in the 81kg division, are highly experienced, with King the veteran of 34 fights and Bloor 44.
Despite dropping a very close decision to Bloor, it was King’s performance that brought the local crowd to its feet.
Having only his second fight after a two year lay-off, his aggressive attitude, heavy counter-punching and level of fitness was indeed a credit to coach Israel Kani.
After leaving the ring, such was his performance and display of courage that King was mobbed by supporters and well-wishers; praise and congratulations well deserved.
Among other locals to perform well was Ella Booth from Impact Gym.
This young lady, boxing in the 60kg division, kept her record clean – seven wins from seven fights.
Let’s not forget her sixth fight saw her win the National Golden Gloves. Another local from Impact Sam Cameron-Hands, also a Golden Gloves champion, continued on his winning way with another outstanding performance.
However, his younger brother Ben – also a National Glove Champion – was involved in an incident that can only be described as strange.
In his fight, he lost on a split decision, a verdict that was not well received. Then later in the evening when certificates for outstanding performances were awarded by a panel of adjudicators, he was named as the Best Junior Boxer of the Evening.
In the words of his father, David, a true gentleman, “Yes it was certainly a bit strange; however that’s boxing.”
Another good win came from Luke Martin also from Impact Gym.
Martin’s aggressive style saw him stop his opponent for two standing eight counts.
When fighting in close, his use of the uppercut was damaging.
Someone to watch closely is Vegas Larfield from the All Star Boxing Club. Boxing in the Junior Division, 44-46kg, this 14-year-old with a record of 14 wins in 20 fights, showed moves beyond his years.
It is not every tournament that you will see a truly outstanding performance; however on Saturday we were witness to just that.
The fighter, whose name was on everyone’s lips, was 20-year-old Golden Gloves champion Tyler Blizzard from the Impact Gym.
From the moment he stepped into the ring it was obvious that here was someone different.
His body language and his fixed gaze spoke of a full-on professional attitude, and despite giving away a massive height and reach advantage the fight was one-sided.
His hand speed when body punching was unbelievable and his fitness was that of a professional.
At the end of round one it was all over.
No one was surprised when he was named the Fighter of the Tournament.
To represent our country at the 2018 Commonwealth Games is not beyond his reach.
