12 young Bundaberg boxers to watch

From barristers who box in a travelling troupe to young women making names for themselves at a national level, these rising stars of the boxing ring are landing some powerful punches. See the full list, watch the video:

Bundaberg’s boxing gyms are packed with young athletes punching their way to the top with grit and determination and the NewsMail have endeavoured to bring this local talents to light.

We interviewed the two boxing gyms in Bundaberg to find 12 of Bundabergs biggest boxing talent’s.

Local trainer Attila Kovac has been training Bundaberg boxers for two of his 15 year career, whose training career includes his own son achieving the rank of 6th in the world.

Kovac has high hopes for the boxers training at his Academy and said Shannan Davey (included in the list below) might be one of the fastest boxers in Queensland.

This NewsMail journalist can attest that younger fighter Zac Blanche (also included in the list below) exhibited similar levels of speed during the training session the NewsMail attended and it’s clear Kovac has high hopes for both boxers.

Bundaberg Boxing Club trainer Sidney Blair has over 35 years of experience under his belt, and said his club has churned out 18 competition fighters before Covid impacted the sport.

“Every year is different, we’ve had state titleholders, national titles holders over the years,” he said.

The club now trains six competition fighters including Mia Gadischkie and Mark Smithe; both boxers included in the list below.

See the full list of local athletes making a name for themselves in the story below, and read about how their journeys into the sport define their achievements:

Aaliyah Watson, 17

Australian champion and two-times state champion Aaliyah Watson started boxing five years ago for fitness, but quick recognition of her talent took her into competitive boxing.

“When I first started boxing I just thought it was fun to get in the ring, and now I want to achieve bigger goals,” Watson said.

Watson already has a number of wins under her belt, including two time state champion for Queensland, one time novice state champion, and one time Australian champion through the Queensland Boxing Association.

She has trained with Attila’s Boxing Academy for almost a year, and described him as a very understandable coach.

“He’s probably the best coach I have been with so far,” she said.

Her future goals include the 2024 Olympics in Paris, and she has already doubled down on her training with that in mind.

Shannan Davey, 22

Shannan Davey has already had a successful career in boxing since he began nine years ago, after following his brother into the sport.

In 2020, he won the Golden Gloves in the 69kg weight category and a Queensland championship. He recently competed in the Commonwealth Games selections, among many other Australian Boxing Association championships.

“I just made my dream come true of representing Australia,” Davey said.

“I went to New Zealand and fought a New Zealand champion.”

He said he still had a fire in his belly and wanted to keep moving forward with representing his country.

Davey’s journey had humble beginnings.

“I was a bit overweight and I was just playing footy and my brother started and he took me along and I never looked back,” he said.

Davey has been boxing with Attila’s Boxing Academy for two-and-a-half years after moving from NSW and he described Attila as the best coach he had ever had.

“He really knows how to push your buttons and stuff and get you into gear, I think he is one of the best,” he said.

When it comes to his personal journey with boxing Davey said it was the healthy mindset that he found the most rewarding.

Nick Larter (left) with his coach Attila after a fight.

Nick ‘The Fighting Barrister’ Larter, 42

Nick Larter is a professional barrister, and currently boxes as part of Fred Brophy’s boxing troupe.

Larter spent time touring outback Queensland for almost a decade with Fred Brophy's boxing troupe before he began his personal boxing career.

“I thought maybe I could have a fight in Freddy’s tent, just to say that I have done it,” he said.

He actually followed his five-year-old son into the sport, who after watching Fred Brophy’s troupe decided he wanted a piece of the action.

Larter made the decision to join Attila’s Boxing Academy due to the good name Attila had in the boxing world.

“My little boy had his first fight in the boxing tent in April, he did very well against another kid from NSW,” he said.

“He thinks he’s just the king of the schoolyard now, I tell you.”

Larter himself now has 15 fights under his belt, and said the rewards were like nothing else.

“There’s a certain amount of satisfaction that you get from fighting that you will get from no other pursuit in life,” he said.

Dawson English said his boxing training has helped him on the schoolyard.

Dawson English, 13

Trouble in the schoolyard brought Dawson English to boxing four years ago.

English trains almost every day, and began boxing competitively late in 2021.

He has his eyes on the 46kg Golden Gloves competition in August 2022, and feels on track for this competition, increasing his training to meet the challenge.

English enjoys the competitive side of boxing, and the boost it has given his confidence.

“It’s good self defence,” he said.

Max ‘The Butcher’ Blanche, 19

Brothers Max and Zac Blanche began boxing together two years ago and Max sticks with boxing for the pure love of the sport.

“It makes me feel better about myself,” he said.

Max started boxing as a way to develop his fitness for football, but when Covid impacted the football season boxing became his priority.

He now boxes competitively with Attila Boxing Academy, competing mostly in Brisbane-based tournaments.

“I was scared at the start, but I started training and I just loved every bit of it,” he said.

Max has now dropped football and said the weight he lost when he began boxing massively boosted his confidence.

“I was pretty shy when I first started, and I don’t know if it’s because my physical appearance was better but I felt better about myself,” he said.

Max now trains two days a week, and hopes to keep going forward with boxing on top of the regular stresses of everyday life.

He said it also provides him a great opportunity to spend time with his brother, and the drive from Childers to Bundaberg for training gives them the chance to reconnect.

“If Zac keeps going the way he is going with boxing, he will end up somewhere high up,” he said.

Zac Blanche, 15

Zac Blanche has been boxing for two-and-a-half years after joining the sport to improve his fitness for football with his brother Max.

He found a passion for the sport, and gave up football to keep pursuing boxing.

“It’s a lot more fun, and there’s better fitness,” he said.

He has already achieved some impressive feats including winning at the South East Queensland titles in 2021 and second in Queensland in the Under 16’s in Brisbane in 2022.

Zac has been training with Attila Boxing Academy since the beginning of his career, he said Attila had really helped him as a boxer.

“He gives me everything I need to know,” he said.

Zac has his eye on the Brisbane 2032 Olympics, and would love to represent his country on home soil.

Mark Smythe, 29

Mark Smythe has been boxing for six years and has already fought in an impressive 27 fights, however he said his journey into the sport was academic.

“I originally joined as I was interested in learning about the sport, and then I got obsessed with it and I wanted to see how good I could get,” he said.

Over his boxing career Smythe has won two titles, a south east title and a Wide Bay title, as part of a Tour Tournament.

He said his work commitments on the family avocado farm had kept him busy, with less opportunities to box than he would like with the nature of the sport requiring around the clock dedication.

“It’s a very hard sport, and there’s only so many people that can do it,” he said.

“Boxing is mentally very straining. It’s the type of sport that if you walk away from it you have to pick yourself up again.”

Alex ‘Rambo’ Murray, 29

Alex Murray has been boxing for more than a decade, and said the sport allowed him to leave some bad personal situations.

“I started to get myself out of a bad circle, to get myself some training and some discipline and get myself straight,” he said.

His nickname “Rambo” comes from his hard work ethic that crossed over from his day job into his boxing career.

“I’m always working, and working hard,” he said.

Murray spent a small amount of time on the competitive circuit but said health issues kept him from taking it further.

Now he enjoys the lifestyle and the support that his trainer Sidney Blair offers him.

“At the end of the day it’s a good lifestyle, and it brings people together to feel as one, as a family,” he said.

Murray hopes to return to competitive boxing but said it could be hard to find the time to train at a competitive level.

“Being a competitive boxer you have to train constantly, and it’s a big commitment,” he said.

Mia Gadischkie, 14

Mia Gadischkie has been boxing for three years and said it was a Facebook post that got her into the sport.

“Mum and Dad saw it on Facebook, and talked me into it so I decided to join for the fitness, but then I started getting into the fighting experience,” she said.

Gadischkie has three fights under her belt, winning two out of the three, with the most recent fight taking place in June of 2022.

She hopes to go as far as the sport takes her, and said trainer Sidney Blair had been a big help.

“He really is a good motivator, and he’s always there to help you,” she said.

Gadischkie said that while the sport had an element of danger, safety was the number one priority.

“When you’re in the ring you can’t back out, but I’ve had a referee stop a fight in the second round for our safety,” she said.

Gadischkie said the fitness and travelling experience the sport offered her kept her keen to continue.

“There’s pretty good sportsmanship as well through the sport, and it’s nice to get to know other boxers,” she said.

Taj Plath, 14

Taj Plath only recently joined the boxing scene with grandfather and trainer Sidney Blair bringing him into the fold two years ago.

“I wanted to get into it to make myself fitter, and boxing lets you do some things other sports can’t,” he said.

Plath uses his fitness for his other love – rugby league – and balances his time between the two sports; however he said the benefits of boxing were unique.

“It can help you mentally, it can get you out of bad situations and sometimes you can come to boxing and block out everything else that’s happening,” he said.

Plath has one fight under his belt, and while a split decision resulted in a loss fit for a Rocky movie, he said he had learnt a lot.

He trains three days a week with his grandfather, and said he worked on other fitness outside of the gym.

Martin Nicholas, 42

Martin Nicholas started boxing when he was 14, with a few schoolyard fights wanting him to develop the discipline and mindset that could keep him out of trouble.

He became competitive within the sport quickly, fighting up until his early 20s under Sidney Blair’s training and guidance.

“From 21 until a couple of years ago I had a break away, and I went back to competition three years ago for the Masters,” Nicholas said.

In the Masters, circuit fights are more limited for those over 41 years-of-age, but that doesn’t slow down his training regimen.

“I have been sticking it out in training like I am, and keeping my fitness up,” he said.

Nicholas said his return to boxing was fuelled by a desire to regain fitness and a more healthy lifestyle.

“It’s the only exercise that has ever worked for me, I don’t stick to any other sort of training,” he said.

Nicholas said his trainer had been a huge help in his return to competitive boxing.

“When you compete you have to trust your trainer with your safety, and I trust Sidney that way and that he will do the right thing for the boxers,” he said.

Nicholas said his future in boxing was with his younger children and a desire to use boxing to help build their own fitness and healthy mindsets.

“I’d probably prefer if they don’t compete, it’s a bit harder as a parent but once you start it’s hard to stop them if they want to compete,” he said.

Dylan Rollings, 19

Dylan Rollings began his journey into boxing at the tender age of nine when schoolyard bullies gave him the fire to join the sport.

In his short career he has already had 45 competitive fights, with highlights including 2018 Golden Gloves in the 46kg weight category.

“That was against a pretty hard opponent, we went the full three rounds and it was pretty close but I got the win at the end of that match,” he said.

He followed that up with the 48kg state titles, and while he didn’t get the win he said it was a good fight.

He hopes to take his career into the professional circuit, and is working towards getting his ranks up.

“Pro boxing is boxing without any head guard, you fight longer rounds and you can fight all over the world,” he said.

Rollings is taking 12 months off from competitive boxing but is still training hard for his return.

“I train every night, three days a week here (Bundaberg Boxing Club) and then the rest back at home to stay fit,” he said.