Last Saturday night, Goulburn locals and visitors from interstate travelled to watch the second instalment of the Goulburn Fight Night series.
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The event, which was held at Veolia Arena, featured 25 fights between boxers of varying ages and experience levels, who competed in amateur boxing.
22 of the boxers who competed were from the ACT, and consequently there was a strong contingent of supporters who followed them across from the nation’s capital.
This willingness to travel, event organiser Larry Daniela said, was indicative of a renewed support for boxing and was extremely pleasing to see.
“I think it was another great event,” Daniela said.
“What I like about it is that people are embracing the fact that they’re having tournaments in Goulburn once again.
“We had 22 fighters from ACT come, and obviously all the rest were from different parts of NSW, but they’re actually wanting to get on this tournament, which is a really good thing.
“What we’re very happy about, there’s been a lot of people in the Goulburn community that have really embraced this.”
The Fight Night series is designed to bring boxing back to the fore in Goulburn, and Daniela said that one of the strengths of the events that will help achieve this goal is their family appeal.
“A family can come and have a great time, and their kids, if they do compete – we’re very strict and regulated,
“Safety comes first, so we’ve gotta make sure that the matching’s done right … [and] that everyone’s quality.”
The ideal result for Daniela would be to see Australia become competitive in amateur boxing tournaments internationally, including high-profile events like the Olympics, and this begins, he said, at a grassroots level.
“It’s about bringing gold medals in,” Daniela said.
“The federal government will put money into sports that bring up the gold medals. That’s why you get a lot of money into swimming, you get a lot of money into cycling, because they’re bringing back the gold medals.
“So if we can start bringing back some gold medals in the boxing, then the federal government’s gonna put more money in the pot to support boxing.
“But it’s up to us to say that we can produce quality fighters. And it starts in the gyms when these kids are young, we’ve gotta nurture them through.”
The next event in Goulburn will be on July 14, and it will be preceded by a tournament in Wollongong the week beforehand, on July 7.