Boxing: Rohan Martin talks motivation and winning two consecutive Golden Gloves medals

But when Rohan Martin came away from the Australian Boxing Championships in Adelaide at the start of July with a second-place finish, he "wasn't that happy".

"It wasn't the performance I wanted," Martin said.

"I came up short, but I came back and said 'I'm winning next time'. I got straight back into training a couple of days after and worked extra hard."

From the moment he returned to the One2Boxing gym, Martin's mind was on the upcoming Golden Gloves titles, which took place in Redcliffe over the weekend just gone.

Having won a title on his debut at the same competition last year, Martin carried "a little bit of confidence" into the 2023 edition.

But he knew he was in for an incredibly tough bout against Kyzaiha Gleeson. The Dubbo product was older, and had beaten Martin earlier this year in a split decision.

So the Tamworthian knew he had to step outside his comfort zone if he wanted to get his hand raised.

"It was a bit of a war," Martin said.

"It was probably not my best fight, but it's what I had to do to get the win."

Standing at roughly six foot four, Martin is often able to use his reach to keep opponents at bay and search for openings to land big shots. But Gleeson's knack for evasiveness forced Martin to come forward and make it a messy affair.

Eventually, after tiring Gleeson out and rocking him in the third round, Martin got his hand raised - he was officially a champion in the junior 80 kilogram A division.

"It was great, getting that gold medal," he said.

"Going down in a split decision against him earlier this year, then getting the win on the weekend, it's great to know that I made it dominant."

Having begun boxing initially as a shy young man who just wanted to get fitter for rugby, Martin has matured both physically and emotionally in his time at the gym.

He credited the community at One2Boxing for much of his development personally and skill-wise, but reserved special praise for one mentor in particular: Lemuel Silisia.

The Solomon Islander, who has trained with the gym since early 2022, has taken Martin under his wing over the last year, and even flew up to Queensland over the weekend to support the team.

"It's great to look up to someone like that," Martin said.

"He gets up at three in the morning, trains in the morning, goes to work, then goes straight to the gym in the afternoon and helps out with the kids, helps around the gym - it's amazing.

"You always look up to someone like that, and think 'Someday I could do what he's doing'."

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