Boxing: One2Boxing Westside secures three more Golden Gloves titles

Golden Gloves competitions are held globally to determine the best amateur boxers in their respective regions. And, as of last weekend, One2Boxing Westside can add a new trio of Australian title holders to their record books.

After an astounding debut showing in 2022, where the club produced three winners, they came away from the 2023 competition in Redcliffe with three more.

Rohan Martin backed up his maiden title from last year with another win, this time in the junior 80 kilogram national A division, while Shaun Kampe picked up his first such title in the junior 54kg C division, and Jarrod Denman also claimed his first Golden Gloves medal with hard-earned victory in the elite 92kg C division final.

Martin, at just 16 years old, consistently fights older opponents with more experience, and the same was true over the weekend.

"He took big steps in this fight," One2Boxing head coach, Jamie Carroll, said.

"We had to fight a different way to beat this guy, and it wasn't real comfortable for Rohan. He was able to adapt and fight the way we wanted him to, and we got the win.

"He fought a really good boy that he'd fought before and lost to."

Kampe is relatively new to boxing, and had little experience before stepping into the ring last weekend. But with a strong martial arts background, he has taken to the sport quickly, and impressed Carroll with his "really professional" conduct throughout the event.

"Shaun's one of the standouts," he said.

"In the first bout, he fought a Queensland representative. He was slick and able to move well, but he couldn't handle Shaun's power ... and then in the final, Shauny was just too strong for his opponent for Port Macquarie."

Denman, as the only senior boxer on the team, benefited from some good fortune and drew straight through to the final of his division.

But that made his ultimate task no easier, as he faced a muscle-bound and much more experienced opponent who was coming into the bout off a knockout win.

"We knew we were in for a big final," Carroll said.

"Jarrod was able to produce a really good performance and beat a pretty experienced guy ... he nearly stopped him in the last round. It was a close decision, it was a war, and Jarrod got the nod."

Of the rest of the eight-strong cohort from Tamworth, Reid Gray won silver in the 32kg C division, Sienna Carroll came second in the 50kg B final, and Ava Harrison was also runner-up in the 60kg C division.

it was a benchmark weekend for the small, locally-based club, but the medals were not what pleased Carroll most.

"The whole One2Boxing family has grown immensely," he said.

"The amount of support we were able to take away [to the Golden Gloves] this year was, for me, the highlight. The celebration of everyone, not just the guys that won, we had guys who lost hung around and supported the others.

"It's a real family that One2Boxing's creating."

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