James Murphy
THERE will be a fight night at the Mount Gambier Bowls Club tomorrow, when Dwyer’s Boxing Club hosts its 2022 championships under the venue’s pavilion.
There will be no shortage of action, with 17 fights booked on the card at the time of print and the potential for even more.
Event organiser Sam Dwyer was pleased by the response and said some of the best amateur boxers from South Australia and Victoria will travel down to compete.
“They are excellent numbers, the city clubs have really supported the event,” he said.
“They are amateur fights, so they are only three rounds.
“They are anywhere from 1.5 to 3-minute rounds depending on how old the fighters are.”
There will be several local fighters on the card, including debutantes Ivan Heenan, Kale Calleja and Robert Bishop.
“So far we have six from our gym, one from another Mount Gambier gym (Team Nielson) and we have another four who we are looking for fights for,” Dwyer said.
Of those, Dwyer said Tobi O’Niel’s rematch with Jye Bowering would be a highlight of the night.
“Tobi is 16 and the junior state champion at 67kg,” Dwyer said.
“He is from our gym and we are really looking forward to getting him on.
“He is fighting Jye Bowering, who he lost to in his last fight.
“We have been making lots of adjustments and hopefully we can get Tobi over the line.”
Super Heavyweights Calleja and Bishop will go head-to-head in another spectacle, which will see two mates enter the ring with points to prove.
“They are quite popular and have a bit of a following, so that is going to one of our big fights for the night,” Dwyer said.
Also one to watch will be power-puncher Jack Evans, who is a coach at Dwyer’s Boxing Club and enters his fight with Luke Hutchinson off the back of a first-round knockout win.
Dwyer expects a large crowd tomorrow night, with past events attracting good numbers.
“I think we had 450 last year – we had the showgrounds at capacity with Covid restrictions,” he said.
“We are hoping this one will be even bigger.”
The first fight is scheduled for a 5.30pm start.
