GET RE ADY T O RUMBLE
SOME of Townsville’s top boxing talents are ready to rumble in front of their local fans.
More than a dozen boxing and kickboxing bouts will be held at tonight’s local fight night at the Herbert Hotel, which will feature both hardened veterans and promising newcomers taking on some of the best young fighters in regional Queensland.
Some of the locals tonight are Lachlan O’Shea, Mark Snook and Tyler Shaw, who are all dedicated followers of the boxing game.
O’Shea, 24, launched his boxing career last year and has been busy ever since, winning 11 of 15 fights. He will fight at next month’s Australian amateur titles in Melbourne and is eager to be in peak fighting shape before hitting the national stage.
“I won state titles this year in Cairns and it’s been almost non- stop,” O’Shea said.
“But I love the sport and it’s something I’ve always wanted to do, even though I only started in May last year.
“My dad was a boxer and he taught me a few things when I was younger, but I never really followed through with it.
“Then I had a broken leg and it was during that down time that I really started to think about what goals I wanted to achieve.
“So last year I put my head down and finally decided to do it.”
Snook is one of Townsville’s more seasoned fighters and says he is ready for whatever his opponent dishes out.
Whether it be boxing or kickboxing, Snook doesn’t care.
“I tried to put a challenge out to fight a kickboxer because the night is supposed to about boxing and kickboxing, so I’ve decided to try fighting one round kickboxing, one round boxing,” he said.
“Just to bring the two groups together, because some boxing fans don’t think very highly of kickboxing, and then some kickboxers think boxers are soft.
“I just wanted to come up with the idea to bring the two together, just to beef up the amateur fight sports in Townsville.
“We should be working together to build it and have stronger competition.”
Shaw, 13, has been boxing for only a year and also does cheerleading when away from the boxing ring. “They’re both a lot of fun,” Shaw said. “I like them both and boxing’s good for fitness ... I love it.”