MILDURA’S boxers recorded mixed results in the first tournament of the year, winning three from six bouts across the clubs.
Boxing Cartel had a strong performance going two for two in their fights, with Luke Hutchinson and Kobi Baker-Doolan both coming away with convincing wins.
“Kob had his first fight and came out and did it exactly what we wanted him to do making an impact right from the start which ultimately led to him winning the fight. All his hard work paid off,” Coach Nick Wakefield said.
“Luke also did well, he had a tough fight with a guy who was a bit more experienced than him, it was his first fight in the elite opens and first three-minute round fight.
“We were happy with his performance, he able to land the cleaner shots and come away with a win.”
Over at Ladd’s Boxing Club, the team came away with one win and one loss, for Charlie Cooper and Robert Burns respectively.
“They went really well, it was excellent, I was really proud of them,” Coach Jackson Ladd said.
“Robert’s fight was a hard one, he’d moved up 6kg and fought a good puncher, it was a great fight,” he said.
His defence held up well but his fitness let him down. It was a good test for him and he showed us he is learning.
“This was Charlie’s best performance yet, it was a super fight, he executed everything perfectly and keeps on showing his ability to improve. I don’t think he lost a round, it was a flawless victory.
“It was one of the best performances I’ve seen from this club, I haven’t had a fight where I’ve felt like that in a while.”
“He was moving in and out, his distance was on point, the cleanliness of shots, the control and composure were the key things, he knew where he was the whole time and didn’t let anything distract him from the task at hand.”
Iron Fist had a tougher day in the office with both boxers losing closely contested fights.
Gab Toutai was narrowly pipped at the post by his opponent in a “mirror match” bout with both men employing their signature slick boxing.
“The boys are both in the elites and fought really good competition I believe it could’ve gone either way and I would’ve been happy with a draw, I’m really proud of Gab and his performance was second to none,” Coach Nigel McWilliams said.
McWilliams said his other fighter Egemen Keleser was also unlucky to not get the nod, putting up a strong contest against an experienced opponent.
“In Eg’s fight, we believe he got the victory, but he didn’t get the win, we are going to hopefully get a rematch with these guys in March.”
“In the rematch, we will look for Gab to make better angles and throw more punches and for Eg’s fight we will look to make more of a dominant appearance starting from the get-go, we believe he lost the first round then won the second and third but this time around we are hoping to win all three rounds.”
