Dunedin teen building up impressive record in Australia

ALEX Hanan might fight for Australia but he is a DunnerStunner.

And the 19yearold’s boxing career has just gone through a growth spurt.

The fledgling professional lives in Dunedin but boxes out of Sydney. He fought twice in the past fortnight and has improved his record to 60.

His most recent fight was against Arnon Yucharoen at the Emporium Function Centre in Bankstown on May 11. The bout went all four rounds and was a good test for the teenager.

‘‘That was the second time I’ve gone the distance,’’ Hanan said.

‘‘He is renowned for being a tough dude.’’

While Hanan has fought twice in two weeks, his career is not moving as fast as he would like.

‘‘Last year I couldn’t get a fight because of what I did in the amateur ranks, especially in WA [Western Australia] because there are not a whole lot of people there.’’

The super welterweight won three New Zealand titles as a junior or a youth and picked up two silver medals at the Australian Golden Gloves before turning professional.

That record actually worked against him but now he is based in Sydney, it should be a little easier to get fights.

Hanan was training with Peter Stokes in Bunbury, Western Australia, but his coach died in February of cancer.

Before Stokes died, he arranged an opportunity for Hanan with respected Sydneybased coach Billy Hussein.

‘‘[Hussein] has trained three world champions and at the moment he has a lot of undefeated professionals, so there is quite a big stable over there.’’

Hanan will fight again on July 27 at an event in Sydney. His promoter is still lining up an opponent but Hanan is confident he would not be stood up.

He will head back to Sydney on July 2 to complete his preparations. He plans to step up to eightround bouts and will look at challenging for a New Zealand title over the next year.

There has been talk of staging a professional boxing event in Dunedin and Hanan said he would be a starter if it happened.