The Macleay could be home to the next Conor McGregor with South West Rocks resident Levi Langham securing prestigious honours in both mixed martial arts and boxing.
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Levi idolises the UFC superstar and lightweight champion McGregor and Levi’s drive for greatness matches that of the Irishmans.
Levi recently claimed the Australian Schoolboys Golden Gloves in the Under 15 years 52kg Division but he put aside his boxing training in preparation for the International Sports Karate Association (ISKA) World Cup and it paid dividends.
The 14-year-old became a world champion in the Clash Sparring, Sword Combat and Wrestling while he finished in second place in the Continuous Sparring and fourth in Point Sparring in the Under 13 years boys Advanced Black Belts division.
He was still eligible for the age group due to his 14th birthday occurring after June 30.
Levi entered the tournament with similar confidence to his UFC hero but he hasn’t adopted the same trash talk.
“(Prior to the event) I told myself that i’m going to win all five events and I got pretty close to doing it, I am really happy with my results considering it was the World Cup,” Levi told the Argus.
“I came across some larger kids my age and I managed to beat them most of the time.”
Levi’s father was most impressed with his son’s performance in the Continuous Sparring.
Levi had little left in the tank as he entered his final event after already competing in 12 events that day and with an injury after jarring both his big toes.
“You could see he was exhausted, he was supposed to get a breather while third and fourth battled but it was a no-contest as a competitor pulled out injured,” Levi’s father Jason Langham said.
“Levi kept the fight tight, restricting his opponents movements and left every ounce of energy he had out there on the floor.
“Unfortunately he lost the decision but the result could have gone either way and even the judges commented on the high quality of martial arts they had just witnessed.”
Levi represents Kempsey and South West Rocks Zenryoku Martial Arts and was invited to compete in the ISKA World Cup after recent successes in karate tournaments.
Levi alternates between the two combat sports, training three times a week for boxing and two for karate.
He has been competing in martial arts for six years while he picked up boxing a year ago.
“My karate helps my boxing and my boxing helps my karate,” he said.
There will be little rest for Levi as he will make his boxing debut in NSW against an experienced opponent on Saturday.
