Levi Langham travelled to Brisbane last week in search of consecutive National Golden Gloves titles, but when he arrived he faced an immediate setback.
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The 14-year-old discovered he was no longer eligible for the Under-15s division he planned to compete in and was forced to step up to the Under-17s age group and move up three kilograms to the 63kg weight class.
The South West Rocks resident wasn’t fazed though, instead he embraced the challenge.
Levi faced a 16-year-old from the Northern Territory in his first bout but quickly proved he was the superior boxer and advanced to the final.
Levi was up against another experienced 16-year-old in the final but produced the fight of his life to completely outclass his opponent and was crowned the Under-17s 63kg National Golden Gloves Champion.
“I reckon the best I’ve ever fought was in the final. I had to shut my opponent down by just staying in his face, which I think I did,” Levi said.
“He switched between southpaw and orthodox throughout the fight, which worked out for me. I was given a puzzle and I solved it. The longer the fight went the easier it was for me to read him and catch him off guard.”
Levi floored his opponent in the first round and continued to rattle him in the second before he exerted all of his remaining energy to pound him in the third and final round.
The St Paul’s College was proud he was able to back up his efforts from last year.
“I’m stoked that I won Golden Gloves again, I had to step up in weight and age,” Levi said.
“I reckon that I fought harder than the last time. Backing it up with another win wipes the whole idea of it being a fluke.”
The Golden Gloves victory added more motivation for Levi to pursue more prestigious accolades, with the amateur boxer setting a goal to one day chase gold at the pinnacle of the sport.
“My next goal in boxing is probably to take out another division at the Golden Gloves, then some international fights, Commonwealth Games and then the Olympics,” he said.
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Levi’s success comes as no surprise when you consider the extreme physical training he puts himself through.
“The win shows that all of my hard work has paid off,” Levi said.
“I bust myself at training so I’m prepared for tough fights. The effort my parents and our boxing group has put in is crazy, we do heaps of travelling to get good sparring and fights.”
Levi isn’t resting on his success and is already back in the gym training for his next bout.
Levi won the Golden Gloves in the Under-15s 52kg division last year.
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