REFUGEE AT HOME IN THE RING
I START TRAINING AT 6.15PM BUT I’M HERE AT 4PM, AND I LEAVE AT 8PM. I DON’T HAVE TO TRAIN FOR FOUR HOURS, BUT I WANT TO DO IT. THE REASON I WANT TO DO IT IS I WANT TO BETTER MYSELF.”
HE
could barely speak a word of English.
He had no friends and virtually only the clothes on his back.
St Albans Park’s TL Mach was an outcast in a foreign country and he knew it.
Fleeing war-torn Sudan when he was just five for a better way of life in Geelong, Mach found himself in a whole new battle for survival.
Only this time, his troubles were in the schoolyard.
Outnumbered and alone, Mach would often let his fists do the talking.
“I always thought I could fight when I was younger and I was in a few scuffles,” said the 19-year-old, who is now preparing to defend his Australian boxing title.
“When I was younger I made a lot of bad decisions. I hung around with some bad people and I didn’t really create my own path.
“It wasn’t until I met a friend of mine, Liam Kapolice, and I sparred with him in the back yard and that’s when I realised I didn’t know how to box.
“I didn’t know how to protect myself at all. I had some altercations with some people and someone beat me up for no reason and that made me even more determined to get involved.”
Mach was only 16 when he walked in to Purist Boxing.
He immediately started punching the bag and it was soon evident he had no rhythm.
“I realised that I needed to work on my technique pretty quickly,” Mach said.
“When I was using the speedball (I was struggling) they were saying ‘it takes time, be patient’ because I got a bit frustrated when I came in here and I couldn’t do it.
“That’s what made me keep coming back. The instant I came in here I loved it straight away because of the environment I was in.
“The people I was surrounded with, it was like a family. Everyone was so friendly and willing to help, even though I didn’t know anything about the sport.” Within
seven months, Mach found himself in the ring for his first exhibition bout against Ryan Barakat.
With trainer Jack Light in his corner, Mach was in early trouble.
“At the start he had it over me because I was more a back yard street brawler … head down, rush in with no technique what-so-ever,” Mach said. “So Jack told me to use the jab and keep my hands up and it started becoming second nature to me.
“Each time I learnt from my mistakes and soon I started holding my own against bigger, more experienced opponents.”
Less than 12 months into his amateur career, Mach was the Victorian bantamweight champion.
Three years later, the undefeated dynamo is 15-0 (five exhibition bouts), a four-time state champion and the reigning, defending Australian champion.
“When I first won the Victorian title they offered me a spot in the Aussie titles but Jack knew I wasn’t ready,” Mach said.
“He held me back and gave me a bit more time because I’d only been fighting for a year.
“He didn’t necessarily teach me to box, he looked after me in a way where he knew I had the skills and the potential but he knew that I needed to wait a little bit longer.
“Once I won that Victorian title, I knew I was the best in Victoria and I could be the best in Australia if I took my time, trained the best that I could.” Now
on the cusp of his second national crown, Mach insists his success hasn’t happened by chance.
“It’s just hard work and dedication,” Mach said.
“Anyone can do it. I do it because I find it fun. If I didn’t find it fun, I wouldn’t be here.
“I don’t see it as work and I don’t go home and say ‘I need to go for a run’. I want to go for a run.
“I start training at 6.15pm but I’m here at 4pm, and I leave at 8pm. I don’t have to train for four hours, but I want to do it.
“The reason I want to do it is I want to better myself.”
Mach plans to throw his hat into the ring for the Tokyo Olympic Games, and if that fails, he will turn professional as early as next year.
“The opportunities are endless,” he quipped.
“We definitely want to turn pro, but there’s an opportunity that I’m looking at and that’s the Olympics.
“If they get me a fight in December for late qualifications, I might turn pro after the Olympics. If they can’t get me something, I’ll be turning pro in March.” It has been a meteoric rise for Mach, who was abandoned by his parents as an infant. He quickly learnt to fend for himself before going into the care of his grandmother.
“It wasn’t a great place to be,” he said of his upbringing in Sudan.
“Me and my family have gone through some struggles. There was a war and people were getting killed in their sleep, so we quickly figured out that we needed a place to go.
“My nan looked after me for most of my life because my mum left me at a young age and that left nan to provide for me and my brothers and sisters.
“She took us all in and carried us. We lived in a village and the community we look after each other.
“We didn’t have anything and my dad wasn’t around either, so it was tough.”
In a refugee camp for almost two years, Mach eventually found his way to Geelong and moved into a house in Fairbairn Drive, Corio.
“It was a relief, but it was hard to adapt at the same time,” he said.
“I couldn’t speak English, which prevented me from going to school in the first year.
I’d go into a classroom and I didn’t know what they were saying and it was really hard.
“So I stayed at home and I learnt most of my English watching TV.”
As his family struggled to lock down a permanent residence, Mach bounced from school to school.
“I went to 13 different schools because I was continuously moving from suburb to suburb. I’d make new friends and then I’d have to leave to start all over again. That really sucked.” Now
settled in Geelong and in a good headspace, Mach is set to take the boxing world by storm.
He has already taken a number of big scalps, beating Australian champion Yaser Rajabi, two-time silver medallist Brad White, former national champion Sidney Booth and silver medallist at the national titles Mark Lakkis to create a wave of excitement.
And he’s bullish about adding another belt to his collection.
“I’m very confident considering I’ve done the training day in, day out,” Mach said.
“This year has been a whole lot better than last year in terms of training, I’m more in shape, I’m more ready, I’m more experienced and I’ve had a few tough fights.
“All fights are tough, don’t get me wrong, and I can’t overlook anyone, but I’ll go there and stick to the game plan and I’ll come out with the W.”