Coast teen looks to fight for world title

BOXING: Teenage sensation Jake Molloy is in the box seat to fight for a world title after beating the reigning national amateur champion last weekend.

RISING FAST: Having won a Queensland amateur title last weekend, Jake Molloy will fight for honours at the national championships later this month. Picture: Iain Curry

BOXING: Teenage sensation Jake Molloy is in the box seat to fight for a world title after beating the reigning national amateur champion last weekend.

The Landsborough talent annihilated last year's under-16 Australian champion, Sean Mumford, in convincing fashion in Brisbane on Sunday after getting through three days of fights to make the final of the state championships.

The win grants him entry to the national championships, which will be contested on April 27 on the Gold Coast.

If the 15-year-old triumphs there he will be selected for the Australian team to step into the ring at the junior Olympics in Russia later this year.

Molloy's coach, Brett W. Smith, a former IBU world lightweight champion, said his young charge was primed for a strong showing on the Gold Coast.

"He fought really well at the weekend to get the win and looked very good, but he was only boxing at about 20 or 30%," he said. "That tells me he has a lot more to give and I expect to see that at the national titles.

"I have a lot of faith in him and believe he can win, and if he does that he has the chance to fight for a world title."

Molloy has enjoyed a stunning rise since taking up the sport two years ago when Smith, his next-door neighbour, started giving him boxing lessons in exchange for the youngster mowing his lawns.

Molloy won the 44kg division National Golden Gloves title in August last year.

He has since piled on more than seven kilos and competes in the 54kg bracket.

"He seems to have his growth spurts in the middle of the year, so we put some weight on him so he can fight in this division and be competitive now while also planning for what he will be doing later in the year," Smith said.

"He can still put some more weight on, but because he only turned 15 in December he is one of the youngest fighting in the division."

Smith said Molloy was improving all the time on the back of his commitment to hard work and a burning desire to win.

"He is training 11 times a week in the am and the pm, which is twice a day," he said.

"He's a great kid and is improving all the time, and I believe he has the talent to win the national title and push on to some very big things in the future."