Former Narrabri boy Shannan Davey has taken another huge step towards his goal of becoming an Australian Olympian after the talented boxer was named in the national men’s team that will travel to Uzbekistan to take part in the 2023 IBA Men’s World Boxing Championships from April 30 to May 14.
It will be the fourth overseas country that the 23-year-old has competed in after he travelled to New Zealand last year and fought in both Hungary and Bulgaria earlier this year.
Davey packed up and headed north to Bundaberg from Narrabri in 2020 to further his promising career and it was certainly a move that has paid off.
He fought his way into a national championships spot last year and travelled to Adelaide in November where he successfully became the 71kg elite Australian champion.
He was then one of four Boxing Queensland athletes chosen to attend a high performance camp at the AIS in December, and after impressing in Europe in February, he was named in the Australian world champs team.
The former Narrabri boy told The Courier he was enjoying his journey and is looking forward to competing on the world stage.
“It’s very exciting and I’m over the moon. I’m so stoked,” Davey said.
“I will do everything I can to get over there and bring a medal back here to Australia. A gold medal too, I don’t want to lose.
“I’ve always had a dream that I’d be doing this, and I’ve been working hard towards this moment.
“It’s a bit surreal but I feel like I’ve earned it.
“I’m loving the journey I’m on.
“Every day I enjoy it, because I know that one day I won’t be doing it any more – everyone has their day when they have to hang the gloves up.
“But I’m enjoying the ride and I know that I still have a long way to go yet.”
Davey is hoping that his appearance in Uzbekistan will also have a positive effect on him achieving his main career goal, qualifying for the Olympics.
The world championships national team selection saw Davey continue a successful return from a significant knee injury after he suffered a ruptured ACL in training back in 2021.
He worked hard to overcome that injury and was able to return much quicker than what he was told would be possible after his operation, fighting again just four months later as
opposed to nine.
Davey narrowly missed out on a Commonwealth Games spot after he returned but kept training hard and was invited by Boxing Australia to travel to New Zealand for a contest.
There, he challenged New Zealand’s Wendell Stanley, who was one of his country’s Commonwealth Games representatives last year.
In his first international fight in Auckland, Davey narrowly lost by a split decision, but that fight further proved that the former Narrabri boy has what it takes to reach the top.
That was reiterated in his two fights in Europe last month when he went down narrowly to two impressive boxers – Kazakhstan’s Yermakhan Zhakpekov in Hungary and Turkey’s Tugrulhan Erdemir in Bulgaria.
The former Narrabri boy said that he learned a lot from those two bouts and was keen to turn around the results at the world championships.
His loss in Bulgaria was a close one as he went down in a decision, with two judges scoring the fight in his favour and three scoring it in the favour of Erdemir.
That fight also saw Davey celebrate a major milestone in the sport as it was his 50th bout.
His record now stands at 37 wins and 13 losses.
Davey’s major sponsor since 2021 has been Lee Parish. The Wee Waa man made a major financial contribution to help Davey overcome his knee injury and has supported him since.
“He is an amazing human and an absolute legend for what he does for me,” Davey said.
The former Narrabri boy also thanked his mother and father, his big brother and both of his sisters, and all of his family, friends and coaches that have helped him along the way on his incredible journey.
He also thanked the people that are contributing financially to help him train full time for the training camp/world championships tour that he will be embarking on next month.
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