Tamworth's Rohan Martin becomes King of the Ring in Sydney

But it was not an easy journey for young Rohan Martin, who was pitted against a much heavier opponent in Sydney over the weekend.

The 15-year-old's coach, Jamie Carroll of One2Boxing, sought matchups for him but struggled, as Martin stands well over six feet and roughly 78 kilograms - a build which many of his peers cannot match.

So he made the step up to heavyweight, which in the junior divisions is 80kg and up.

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"We had to drink him a litre of water and feed him McDonald's for the weigh-in," Carroll said.

"He only just weighed 80 kilo."

His opponent, who was shorter, tipped the scales at 88kg, which is a massive difference in boxing. Nonetheless Martin got the first round stoppage with a couple of stiff right hands.

"I'm extremely happy for Rohan ... it was a big effort, amazing effort," Carroll said.

Lemuel Silisia and Jesse Taylor were Tamworth's other two competitors at the tournament, and both could consider themselves victims of bad luck.

Silisia lost a split decision to an Irish international who was vastly more experienced. In doing so, however, he discovered the cost of the Solomon Islander's vicious punching power.

"It was a tremendous fight," Carroll said.

"He split the Irish guy in the second round with a couple of good shots. But with his experience, he worked Lems out and knew not to sit in there and trade with him."

Taylor, meanwhile, was on his way to a comfortable decision win when he ate some shots in the third round and the fight was called off just ten seconds from the final bell.

It was, in Carroll's opinion, an early stoppage.

"In big tournaments like that, [referees] are doing 120 fights a day, so you're bound to get some bad decisions," he said.

But, he added, "every 'L' stands for 'learning'", which is what Taylor will no doubt do.

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