Debutants will have a ball
November 23, 2012
We found these two boxers, lightweight Aaron Masters and heavyweight Daniel Null, in Brunswick at Doherty’s Gym where, until this time last year, I was taking the boxing fitness classes and where Dan still works the front desk as well as being one of the gym’s most popular personal trainers.
Aaron, 17, looked like the real deal in the fitness class where he came with his mate Lewis once a week. He was so athletic, such a natural mover, that I thought someone should grab him fast and turn him into a genuine boxer before he picked up too many bad habits in the class, where he wasn’t getting the kind of attention he needed. It took a while but Sam finally saw what I saw and Aaron has now trained with us all year. He’s had two interclubs and will be ready for his first fight as a novice amateur on December 1 as part of Boxing Victoria’s state titles.
Dan, 27, started playing around with boxing when I was at Doherty’s and then followed me to train in Kensington, where over the course of the year he has turned into a pretty slick fighting machine. With the help of MMA star Nicholas Mann, he’s learned the value of fitness, defence and speed and is ready to show what he’s got this Sunday, November 25 at the Calabria Club where he will be fighting the Lim Jeka trained Nick Stirling, a very tall, very rangy boxer with a bit more experience than our man. It’ll be a semi final bout and if he wins he’ll go on to fight in the finals.
But Dan is already a veteran, not of boxing but of genuine war, having served as a sergeant in the US Marines and seen action in Iraq twice. He moved here to Australia from his home in North Carolina, to marry his wife Lucy five years ago. His life experience, more intense than most people his age, makes him perfectly prepared for what’s to come in the boxing ring. He’s calm under pressure and can handle the chaos and the intensity of boxing with no problems.
These two guys, from very different backgrounds, have been a pleasure to train and Sam and I are pretty excited about seeing them fight. We wish them both the best of luck and hope that they will continue on their path into the new year at Boxing Central.