Narrabri boys fight at the South East Queensland titles

North West Boxing Club’s Tony O’Connor was a proud coach on Saturday, November 30, when Shannan Davey and James Baker did themselves and their town proud in Queensland.

The Narrabri duo were both in action for the first and last time this year when they competed at the South East Queensland Titles at the Beenleigh Tavern.

For Davey it was a successful return to the ring as he scored a victory by decision in his first fight since October 2018.

He took on Wong Lokene from Brisbane who trains at the same gym as 2018 Commonwealth games featherweight gold medallist Skye Nicholson.

The pair contested the only fight on the card which was three three-minute rounds, with the rest fought across three two-minute rounds.

The less experienced Baker made his debut at the event and went down on a points decision.

He took on Shane Baker (no relation) from Brisbane in a match that went the distance.

Davey told The Courier that he was pleased to get back in the ring after more than 12 months without a fight.

“It was good to get back in the ring and get the ring rust out of the way,” he said.

“It was an unreal feeling to get the win again and I can’t wait for 2020 to get back in there and do what I love.

“I had a tough opponent, Wong from Brisbane, who trains with Skye Nicholson and all those elite boxers up there in Brisbane so he was well prepared, it was one of my toughest fights of my whole career.

“It was also a wake up call to get fitter because I’m not as fit as I should be so I’ll definitely work on that.

“Next year I want to get as many fights as possible and go to the NSW Titles, Australian Titles and Golden Gloves and see how I can do.”

Baker joined North West Boxing Club back in January with a goal of improving his fitness, but developed a love for the sport and said that he was thrilled to have competed in his first fight.

“I was nervous, definitely,” he said.

“It was a massive eye-opener and an unreal experience.

“I had butterflies going into it but once I got in there it was fantastic, I enjoyed it.

“I had no idea what to expect but I was going off what I’ve seen, what I’ve watched and what I’ve trained for and it was just unreal.

“There’s a lot of things I could have done better but I gave it a red hot crack and I enjoyed myself.

“Everything I’ve been training for has been paying off and I’m only going to get better.”

O’Connor said that both local boxers impressed in the ring at the event.

“It started mid afternoon and there were 37 fights so it was a big tournament, it was a great way to finish off the year,” he said.

“First up for us we had Shannan and I picked an opponent for him who had been fighting really well all year and had had a lot of fights for the year.

“This was our first fight back in 12 months.

“It was a really good hard hit out for Shannan and in the first round he came out and absolutely killed it.

“In the second round he slowed up a bit and Wong got back into the fight.

“But Shannan then pulled out the mongrel that he has in him and came home strong in the third and finished it off really well.

“He listened to what the corner was telling him and he did what he had to do to get the win.

“Then came James and it was his first fight which was pretty exciting.

“For those who have never stepped through the ropes before, you go through lots of different emotions – excitement, fear, anticipation.

“We have been training so hard for so long and for him it all built up to this and he was ready.

“He stepped through the ropes and in the first round he was finding his feet then in the second round he slowly got into it.

“The third round was James’ best, his footwork was really good and the whole time he was listening and he really impressed me, he had the maturity to listen to what was going on and take in what was happening.,

“Unfortunately we didn’t get the result we were looking for but it’s all about experience, and he now had his first fight out of the road, he learnt a lot from that fight.”

O’Connor said that 2019 had been a positive year for the North West Boxing Club which included a move from its old base at the Narrabri High School to its new home at the Narrabri Showground.

“It’s been a good year,” O’Connor said.

“It’s so much better to have our own home, it was a good move.

“We’ve had a lot of support, both people coming along or just being supportive of our Facebook page.

“Our kids’ group has built more and more momentum which is great.

“Our fitness group has died off a little bit but I think that was due to daylight savings but to combat that I changed our times out an hour and a few more people have been coming along.