From Shorty St to boxing elite
Troy Garton’s rapid progress in boxing will see her off to the Commonwealth Games in April. Ben Strang reports.
The death of a colleague sparked Troy Garton’s entry into boxing four years ago, and now she’s heading to the Commonwealth Games. The 30-year-old was named in New Zealand’s Commonwealth Games boxing team for the Gold Coast on Thursday, competing in the women’s 60 kilogram class.
Four years ago, Garton was far from an elite boxer. Working at Les Mills gym in the centre of Auckland, she was inspired to enter a corporate boxing night, raising money for charity.
‘‘We had something called Fight Night, and I used to sit in the office and saw the training programme, 12 weeks, and I thought I’m gonna get fit.
‘‘Then one of our PTs – physical trainers – passed away unexpectedly, and because it was a charity night, I thought instead of raising money for children, I’d raise money for their family.
‘‘It gave me more motivation and reason to do it. I did it, stepped in the ring, I enjoyed the training and so I just kept on doing it.’’
Two years later, Garton entered the amateur boxing ranks and last year she became a national champion. Now she has fought and defeated Australia’s best and been to a boxing camp in Colorado Springs, sparring with the top two fighters in the United States.
It’s been a rapid progression for someone who could so easily have found her way in the television and film industry.
Garton appeared in a handful of episodes of Shortland Street in 2007 as Caitlin Owens, and was in the costume and wardrobe department for the TV show Spartacus in 2013.
‘‘It was just a part-time thing, and that all came because my father is a costume designer,’’ Garton said of her Shortland Street stint.
‘‘I’ve been around that stuff a lot, been around the wardrobe a lot. Dad [Brett Garton] was like, you need to learn to sew ... so I went and did a fashion degree, and I was going down that route when I was young.
‘‘But I was also working at Les Mills. I’ve been at Les Mills for 12 years now. That’s where I got into boxing.’’
Garton is short for her weight grade but hasn’t struggled to impose herself on taller opposition in the boxing ring.
She has excelled at coming forward and getting inside her opponents, and will look to do the same on Australia’s Gold Coast for the Commonwealth Games.
Her selection came as Boxing New Zealand was allowed to seek extra places for its fighters, with only five initial spots up for grabs.
New Zealand Olympic Committee chief executive Kereyn Smith said New Zealand had a finite number of spots for the Commonwealth Games, which were split up among individual sports.
When spots come open as some athletes fail to qualify, they can be allocated elsewhere, and boxing was fortunate to pick up three spots.
Garton, Tasmyn Benny and Leroy Hindley were then handed a place in the boxing team.
Garton’s call came the night before her 30th birthday, and meant that the celebrations started early.
‘‘I got a phone call from our head of high performance so I kind of knew when he called – oh, I wonder if it’s good or bad.’’
Her run to the Games has come with sacrifice, including having to put a halt to a European holiday earlier this year.
‘‘I was actually in Europe on a sixweek holiday and I got the call saying that if I was seeking selection I needed to get to Colorado for the training camp,’’ Garton said
‘‘It was amazing in the end because I got to do the three weeks in Europe, a bit of sightseeing and relaxing, and then went to Colorado for what I love which is boxing.’’
She’s finally come to terms with her selection, having stopped crying tears of joy when she is congratulated.
‘‘It’s great, especially for the girls’ spots – three of us going – to get our names out there.’’