Callum Peters, 21, is the only boxer from SA going to the Paris Olympics
Callum Peters will be the first Indigenous boxer from Elizabeth to compete in an Olympic Games and the golden opportunity is not lost on the hardworking 21-year-old.
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For 21-year-old Callum Peters, the five-month countdown to the Olympic Games in Paris will go by in no time at all.
The young boxer’s Olympic debut has been 10 long years in the making and the hard work has finally paid off – not just for Peters, but for his parents and the community around him who have supported him from the very beginning.
Peters, who grew up in Elizabeth and now lives in Davoren Park, was the only boxer from South Australia to be selected for this year’s Olympic team.
He qualified earlier in the year in the Solomon Islands, making the selection while others on the national boxing team missed out.
It was a bittersweet moment for Peters, who has trained on the national squad since he was a junior and will now stop travelling with them as he prepares for the Olympics.
“Not long to go, about five months and 10 days left – not long now,” Peters said.
“My prep is mostly hard sparring and explosive cardio – you know, if you’re fit, you can move, punch, chuck as many shots as you want.”
Peters started boxing as a nine-year-old kid from Smithfield needing an outlet.
Dad Bradley Peters recognised this early on and decided to put pads on and train his son himself.
Mr Peters, who grew up in Western Sydney and loved boxing, was never able to pursue the sport at the level his son now can.
At 6ft 3in the proud father is his son’s full-time trainer and manager, seeing the 21-year-old blossom from “a big kid” to a lean 6ft 2in middleweight, now competing at 80kg.
Peters’ mum Cassie is 6ft herself and the trio makes a formidable team standing ringside together at the many bouts, tournaments and training camps that have been part of their lives for the last 10 years.
Peters is one of nine children and while both parents will fly to Paris for his Olympic debut, his siblings will watch from home – their airfare simply more than the family can afford.
Ms Peters said her son’s drive had always been there, supporting his decision to choose competitive boxing over a “normal” teenage life.
“When he was at the Commonwealth Games in 2022 and he was boxing some of the best boxers in the world, I just thought, he’s done it,” she said.
“He was the youngest one there, he was still a baby, and just to see him grow in that space and just to see how well he did, it was amazing, the best feeling ever.”
Peters has worked hard for his success and hopes to share it with the community who made him.
“There’s not many young athletes in Elizabeth who are able to do big things in South Australia,” Peters said.
“It’ll be good for the younger community (members), to show them anything is possible.”
Mr Peters said Paris would open up the world to his son, the first Indigenous boxer from Elizabeth to compete in the Olympic Games.
“He’s just got to build his profile up now and the world will come to him.”
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