Wilcox sets his eye on next ring round
TAKING on men more than 20kg heavier than himself felt like “fighting a bull running at you” for Presley Wilcox. But despite two years out of the ring, he found a way to compete.
A former up and comer in the Australian amateur ranks, Presley’s junior career took him across the globe – from the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, to Thailand for a training camp before fighting in Russia.
Work and life soon prevented him from stepping into the ring – his long days
on North Queensland mining sites limiting what preparation he could undergo.
But in last weekend’s Knuckle Man fight night, Wilcox proved he still had plenty to offer, and now he has set his sights on a professional berth.
“It’s like fighting a bull running at you. Moving around and a lot of ring craft and stuff like that helped,” Wilcox said of his massive weight disadvantage.
“But it was more being a bit strong minded and having a bit of heart getting in there and having a go.
“I felt like I pretty much
picked up where I left off, I just need the ring fitness and get that fight fitness back.
“I’m thinking about having a few more amateur fights and then I might turn professional, I’m just not too sure when.”
Wilcox fell just shy of claiming the heavyweight title, winning his first fight against Robbie Maxwell before going down to a fresh Joel Herlihy in the final.
While he is still contemplating how far he will go in the sport, Wilcox’s exploits have already made him a name on Townsville boxing’s lips, courtesy of his junior
days. Reliving his time in Russia while competing with the Australian team, Wilcox said the weight of expectation was at times difficult to bear as he took on contenders from Ukraine.
But he was always going to bounce back and charge through the adversity he felt.
Boxing has long been a part of Wilcox. He was eight when he made his debut.
Surrounded by his father and brother, who were both pugilists, and getting stuck into gym sessions with them lit the fire for Wilcox from an early age.
Even during his hiatus
Wilcox said he was inevitably going to make a return.
“It’s hard, I work at the mines on rostered work so I’m always night shift or week on and off so it’s hard to fit training in,” he said.
“If you’re training for a fight you train pretty hard.
“It’s been about two years pretty much.
“You sort of always as a boxer get the itchy feet and want to come back.
“Once you’re a boxer you always want to come back and always will.”
Check out the action from the fight night at Boxing Photos on Facebook.