Spark looking to ignite
Planning begins for next step
With the Australian super lightweight title belt tucked safely away in his locker, Toowoomba’s Steve Spark is now eyeing his next step towards the international arena.
Spark took his professional record to six wins from seven fights with a classy display to stop Sydney’s Gearoid Clancy at Rumours International earlier this month.
Gearoid was ruled out of the fight with an eye cut by the ringside doctor after Spark dominated the opening four rounds of the scheduled 10round bout.
Spark is now eyeing a regional title bout and may return to the ring as early as November 3 as he looks to build winning momentum on top of his Clancy shut down.
The 21-year-old’s trainermanager Brendon Smith is now plotting a pathway for Toowoomba’s latest international prospect.
“We’re now heading in the World Youth (title) direction,” Smith said.
“Steve came through the Clancy fight okay.
“He had some heavy hand bruising but no breaks and we’re 99% sure he’ll fight next on our next Toowoomba show in November.”
Toowoomba has produced two former World Youth champions with the late Brayd Smith and Damien Hooper both winning the title.
“We want to put Steve out there now to try and gain some world recognition and I’m in talks with the WBC, WBO and IBF about the possibility of gaining him a World Youth regional title bout,” Smith said.
“Because he’s still only 21
he’s eligible for the category up until he’s 23 years and 11 months.
“The next step after a World Youth regional belt is a World Youth title with a win there moving you into the top 10 or 15 in the world open rankings.
“That’s the longer-term pathway we’re looking at for Steve.”
Smith celebrated six years and 20 editions of Rumours International fight shows earlier
this month.
The anniversary was marked with a parade of former world, Commonwealth, regional, national and state champions who have all fought out of Toowoomba on their climb up the boxing ladder.
The 21st show will feature the return of Toowoomba heavyweight Herman EnePurcell along with Chris Brackin and Jaydii Kalambe.
Ene-Purcell is due to face
the Gold Coast’s Willie “Wild Bill” Nassio.
Ene-Purcell hasn’t fought since stopping John Sziget at the Gold Coast last October.
“This is a huge fight for Herman,” Smith said.
“His opponent is number two in the rankings and Herman is number five.
“It’s a very important fight for Herman and he’s taking part in an 11-week camp to be at his peak come November 3.”