Boxer in gold bid

PROMISING young boxer Presley Wilcox is hoping to use lessons learnt in Thailand as a springboard to success at the upcoming Golden Gloves tournament.

Wilcox was one of seven young fighters selected for a national training camp by Boxing Australia after impressing at the state and national titles.

He and his teammates spent two weeks in Thailand training with some of the country’s top coaches and learning new skills from more experienced boxers.

The 16- year- old has been involved with the sport since primary school and was very grateful to his parents, his coach at Dragon Boxing Dan Allman and Boxing Australia for providing the opportunity for him to advance his skills in a new country.

“They showed us a lot of different training styles and techniques that we haven’t used before and we got to do lots of sparring with some top boxers,” he said.

“It helped show me the level that you have to train at to make it at the top level and compared to our training here they train a lot harder.

The Kirwan State High School student trains locally with Dragon Boxing at the Fighting Fit gym and he has aspirations to go on and represent his country.

“I would love to qualify for the Commonwealth Games and it is my dream to one day represent Australia at the Olympics so I’ll keep working hard towards that,” he said.

Wilcox will travel with Allman to Brisbane next month for the Golden Gloves, where he will compete against Australia’s best young boxers for a shot at a national title.