FOUR Mount Gambier boxers will unite under one banner in the pursuit of state glory this weekend.
Experienced amateurs Riley Wiese and Vahahn Schofield will join debutantes Liam English and Oscar Miller in representing Team Nilsson Fitness and Boxing at the 2018 Boxing South Australia State Championships held over two days at Adelaide’s Dom Polski Centre.
The quartet regularly train together at the Mount Gambier gym – located on the city’s eastern fringe – and it is that camaraderie forged through mutual hard work which head coach Barry Nilsson believes has the young men primed for action.
“We are a team – we all stick together and help each other out,” Nilsson said.
“They all train together, all have their routines and they know if their skills are not right, they’re going down for sit-ups.”
Refining the basics is paramount under the Team Nilsson method, with the nationally accredited coach requiring around 12 months to get an athlete “ring ready”.
“It takes a lot of hard work, a lot of pad work.
“I’m very hard on skill and technique.
“You have got to be skilled in the ring these days, you cannot just be a brawler otherwise you will not score well with the judges.”
Nilsson said he expected English and Miller to handle the pressure of their first official bouts, while spurring the more experienced Wiese and Schofield on to new heights.
“Oscar is a southpaw and they are always the hardest to fight because the stance is so different,” he said.
“Riley has been working really hard, but he could probably step it up even more.”
Boxing SA is yet to finalise the draw ahead of this weekend’s two-day event, but Nilsson remains confident his fighters will put in a respectable performance no matter who stands opposite.
