Australian Boxer Cooper O’Connell Set for Gold at World U19 Championships

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In an exciting turn of events, Australian boxer Cooper O’Connell has made it to the finals of the World U19 Boxing Championships taking place in Colorado this week. The promising young athlete is set to compete in the gold medal match on Sunday (Australian time), a testament to his hard work and dedication over the past few years.Cooper is under the expert guidance of coach Gareth Williams at The Boxing Shop in Brisbane. Over the last two years, he has demonstrated remarkable growth, both in his skills and his mindset. “We have spoken for a few months about winning the gold medal, and now it’s within touching distance,” Williams said, reflecting on the journey that has led them to this pivotal moment.In preparation for this prestigious event, Cooper has engaged in sparring sessions with some of the best in the sport, including Olympians Shannan Davey and Olympic Bronze Medalist Charlie Senior. This high-level training has equipped him with the experience and confidence necessary to excel on the world stage. His preparation has been nothing short of exemplary, allowing him to hone his abilities against top-quality professionals leading up to the championship.This year has not been without its challenges for Cooper. Earlier in the year, he faced a significant setback when he had to recover from a shoulder reconstruction. After losing his fight at the Queensland titles, he showed immense resilience, bouncing back with rapid improvements that have led him to this gold medal opportunity. Now, Cooper stands on the brink of becoming the world number one boxer in the 65kg division for under 19s.The community surrounding Cooper has rallied behind him, with immense support from sponsors and fans who helped him raise the funds necessary for this journey. Their belief in his talent and potential has played a crucial role in enabling him to compete at such a high level.As Cooper prepares to step into the ring for the final, the entire Australian boxing community is filled with pride and anticipation. Regardless of the outcome, his journey serves as an inspiration, demonstrating what can be achieved with hard work, determination, and support. We wish Cooper O’Connell the best of luck in his pursuit of gold in Colorado!

Jack Bowen will be looking forward to showing his skills to the locals

Australian amateur superstar signs with MTK Global

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Jack Bowen is looking forward to showing his skills in his Professional Debut

Australian amateur light-heavyweight champion, Jack Bowen has signed with management
powerhouse MTK Global ahead professional debut.
The 23 year old amateur standout has been recognised as the countries most exciting prospect and is the latest name added to the long list of world class boxers managed by the world’s most foremost boxer management company MTK Global.

MTK Global international consultant, Mike Altamura said that he had been following Bowen’s amateur career for sometime now and signing the future superstar was a ‘no brainer’.

“He’s a very exciting and explosive young fighter,” he said.

“For someone his size and build, he’s surprisingly quick and his movement around the ring is fantastic to watch. He has speed, spectacular defence and a very crowd pleasing offensive style.

“He also has a great amateur background and has accomplished great things over the years. He’s competed at a very high level, so he’s bringing over a lot of experience and I’m excited to see his
progression into the pro ranks.”

Altamura said that it is not just his raw boxing talent that first sparked his interest with the young fighter, but also his marketability.

“Jack tick’s all the boxes, not only is he a talented boxer, but he has a great personality, he’s mature, well-mannered and has a tremendous work ethic. There is no doubt in my mind that he will go on to do great things in the pro ranks and become a major star. He is a great reflection of what boxing is.”

Bowen has shown his talent throughout his amateur career, capturing the Australian light-heavyweight title and representing Australia at the World Championships in Russia as well as winning Queensland Elite boxer of the year.

The decorated amateur though, is looking for more than the amateur ranks could provide and said no longer pursuing the Olympic Games was a decision best for him.

“I’m ready to make a statement” Bowen said.

“I could have stayed amateur, and I could have gone to the Olympics, but that was never the end goal. The Olympics was a way for me to gain experience against world class boxers before entering the pro ranks. The dream is and always has been to be a world champion, and I believe
now is the right time to make that transition.

“I’m grateful to have Mike and a powerful brand like MTK Global behind me. The support is unbelievable and we’ve developed such a great relationship over the years. I know they are going to guide me in the right direction and help me turn that dream into reality.”

Details of Bowens professional Debut will be released in January .

By Denesh Adolphus

Early Days,taking the Australian Universities Rugby League Team

Building TBS from the ground up

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Starting The Boxing Shop was a dream that started with $0 and a lot of hard work.
I’ve heard many comments both direct and indirect about how we are “so lucky because we have a big club” yet everybody laughed when I said im going to open up a full time boxing gym, ” you cant make boxing work,your better off staying in your job and do it slowly” well 14 years later we now have the Gym,Athletes, School programs, employees from our students and a community group that cannot be beaten (imagine if I had have stayed in the job I hated and done it slowly….20 years plus it would have taken me to have any success).
Most people don’t know that building from my mates backyard shed to where we are now, drawing zero dollars for many years has been a struggle, but one I would not change.
After growing from day one,my aim after many meetings was actually to open The boxing shop at Chandler in the current badminton space. I actually believed I was going into a meeting to sign a lease when the bomb was dropped.”sorry mate but we have decided to stay with Badminton as our tenant”,I felt hollow and lifeless as the meeting continued and I couldn’t get out of the building quick enough,I sat in my car in the car park for a few hours just going over the thoughts in my head and driving myself crazy thinking ,where did it all go wrong?
Looking back now this was the best thing that could have happened to me as I pulled together all my contacts and resources and wouldn’t take no for an answer.
I was training a university group at Griffith,Nathan Campus ,twice per week where an old football coach of mine was the guy who had set this up,after the meeting with Chandler I had a 6 pm class at Griffith , as I walked in sheepishly and said to my old mate,”you don’t want to open a boxing gym do you” ,Maybe said Marty,and as they say the rest is history.
We talked terms and as I was on the bones of my arse financially,i needed a lease where I didn’t have to pay rent for a short time,so we arranged that I would provide classes and Boot camps for students and staff to help fund my way as I got started.
An other small problem was,not only did I have any money,I also had no equipment other than 4 pairs of gloves and 4 pairs of focus pads,so I had to think outside the box as to how I could deck out my boxing gym without any equipment.
I organised a meeting with Madison sports to discuss the opportunity that Id been given with Griffith University ,to cut a long story short, we came to terms in the meeting and I walked away with a 70% equipped boxing gym just minus a few items including a boxing ring ,so i was ready to open the doors in Feb 2007.
As Ive always said,you have to think outside the box if you want to succeed,You have to do what others are afraid of doing,Who cares if you fail,at least you had a go!

Listen to The Podcast to learn more about the Early days Starting in a backyard shed
https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-boxing-shop-started-in-a-shed/id1443803831?i=1000424545882

Gareth Williams

TBS Boxers Shine at Local Show

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L to R, Caitlin Leslie,Eddie Leslie,Shara Romer,Gareth Williams & Dan Mohr celebrate their weekend victories


With 7 boxers matched up at last weekends local boxing show ran by the Albert Shire Boxing ,the club came away with a solid result of 5 wins and 2 losses.
Success came to Caitlin & Eddie Leslie,Daniel Mohr,David Toomua and Dan Ware while Vylita Toomua and Sam Mohammed were beaten on the day.

This weeks star of the show was Eddie Leslie from Mansfield.
Eddie was boxing against an unbeaten boxer from All star boxing gym who is from a good family with a history of good boxers.
The fight was evenly matched yet Eddie kept to his plan of boxing using his good foot movement and only straight attacks through the match.
Opponent , Utai,had his moments and the fight was a very willing contest with both 12 year old boys digging and and showing that they both have promising futures in the sport.
10 year old Caitlin Leslie and her opponent Scarlet Schuett put on a non stop display of boxing,both girls put it all on the line with a continued display of attacks, “Caity got the win but it was a close one ” said coach Shara Romer “she landed the cleaner shots but Scarlet was digging deep to take the win”.
Dan Ware was also back in the ring after 3 year lay off ” Dan was excellent” said coach Gareth Williams ” he has great agility and movement for a big man,he uses angles on his feet and a very good jab,this is what got him the win”. Ware stopped his opponent in the third round but it was the good boxing skills that created the platform.
Dan Mohr from the Redlands district travels to Salisbury 5 days a week for training and his dedication is showing. Mohr took his record to 10 wins and 4 losses with a controlled yet dominant display of boxing over his very willing and strong opponent from Cherbourg boxing club.Dan has his sights set on the state championships at the end of the year.
David Toomua,brother of Wallabies International Rugby player Matt Toomua,was matched in a very tough match against Emery Falcon.The first round was very good by Toomua as he controlled the match with a solid jab,but then the second round started and it was a different fight.Falcon came out and was strong in rounds 2 and 3 keeping the pressure on Toomua , “Dave did enough to win but the last round was a cracker for the crowd,you dont see local professional boxers putting it all on the line like these two men did”.
An amazing display from the team and coaches Gareth Williams and Shara Romer were extremely happy with the crew.
This week Jack Bowen and Kendall Byrnes are representing Queensland at the Arafura games in Darwin.
Byrnes has drawn fellow Queenslander Ange Harris in the first round where Bowen will fight on Wednesday against the South Australian champion.