MILDURA boxing will go international this month when Iron Fist’s Paddy McWilliams fights in Bangkok on the undercard of a title fight for the coveted WBC Asian continental bantamweight title.
McWilliams will be cornered by legendary Australian boxer Jeff Fenech alongside his coach and father Buster McWilliams.
Buster McWilliams said it was an amazing opportunity for someone from a regional city to compete on the big stage.
“It is a huge experience for Paddy and for the gym,” he said.
“For someone from a small place like Mildura to be able to compete on a world stage is amazing.
“There will a least 1000 people there because it is for a major title.
“It is a life-changing experience for Paddy and it’s really nice for me to be involved.
“It is something I’ve always dreamt of doing.”
Buster said Paddy had been working hard to prepare for the fight.
“Paddy is training twice a day, putting in the rounds, doing his own travelling and slogging it out two, three hours a day” he said.
“He’s ready to go … Paddy is always ready to go.
“He’s been maintaining his weight well, lots of running with sauna suits on, so he should come in on weight pretty easily.”
Paddy will be one of 11 fighters travelling from across Australia to compete alongside fighters from around the globe.
“We are going there for 11 days,” Buster said.
“We are training there every day and then we will fight on August 26.
“We had to get a clearance from boxing SA and Boxing Australia because of Paddy’s amateur record in order to fight overseas.
“It is a huge event for us and once again puts Mildura boxing in the spotlight.”
