Hartwig proves he’s fit to take title
ETHAN Hartwig only began boxing as a way of staying fit for rugby league; now he is the 16-year-old who has been crowned Australia’s best in the under-19 heavyweight division.
Hartwig was successful at the recent Australian Championships, defeating bigger rival Malcolm Mattes, of NSW, in the final to clinch his second national title. It has put him on the path to the youth world championships in August.
First, he has to successfully make it through next month’s Oceania under-19 championships in Samoa.
“I have to win there to qualify for the worlds,” Hartwig said.
He’s yet to learn who his opponents will be but has set worlds as “a pretty big goal of mine to achieve” – and one he is pouring full concentration into before allowing himself to dream of a 2020 Tokyo Olympics berth.
For a teenager, Hartwig is a late bloomer.
He began training only three years ago, spending the first two years at Gold Coast PCYC before switching to Chris Carden’s Platinum Boxing Club for its coaching.
Hartwig revealed his time in the ring began simply as a means to improving his footy, having played in the centres.
“I started training with a little bit of boxing in my local area for fitness for footy,” he said. “Then I had one fight and now I have stopped playing footy and just trained for boxing.
“(In boxing), instead of relying on the whole team to do the job, I just have to rely on myself to put in the effort.”