Michael ‘The Punisher’ Pengue making the most of his second chance to make it to the top
A year refresh and taking some time out to watch his little boy grow up has given southern Sydney boxer Michael Pengue all the motivation in the world to continue chasing his dreams in the ring.
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THERE’S no hardluck, down and out or fighting for his life story about the career of Michael ‘The Punisher’ Pengue.
It’s just a man giving everything he has to the game and taking full advantage of his second chance in sport.
The next step in that journey takes place on Wednesday night in the biggest moment of his career to date, when he takes on Ben ‘The Hype Beast’ Hussain on the undercard of Paul Gallen and Justin Hodges.
“It’s not your typical came from the gutter or worked my way up,” Pengue said of his introduction to boxing.
“It was for sport. I’ve always done in for sport. I’ve never done it as an escape from the streets. It’s always been pure choice and a want to fight.
“It’s a pure sport. What you do here every day (in the gym) shows on fight night. That’s your motivation to push as hard as you can.”
The 29-year-old Rockdale native has been hitting the pads for close to half his life now, and after wondering what could’ve been on the football field, isn’t leaving a stone unturned in his next shot at making the big time.
“I kicked off with soccer, my brother and I,” he said.
“Then we moved into footy, so it was soccer on Saturday and footy on Sunday.
“I made some footy rep teams as I was getting older, and then I started boxing when I was 15 at Rockdale.
“(Trainer) Tony’s (Del Vecchio) is my uncle. Once I got my licence I travelled out to Bondi (Boxing Club) and started training with Tony.
“I stopped playing footy and then I needed some form of competition, so Dad said to give boxing a crack.
“At the start it was just to do something, and then there was the idea of having an amateur,” he said.
“I didn’t have a big amateur career, only 11 or 12 fights. I was always training, but wasn’t really busy fighting.
“I was 25 and thought let’s have a crack and turn pro. The style suited me better. I’m not a very amateur style fighter. I like to box.
“With footy and making rep teams, I was a little bit lazy about it. That motivates me now, because I wish I pushed a bit further. If I pushed to my max in footy it could’ve been a different life, but it’s one of those things that you’ll never know.
“I’m treating boxing as my second chance to have a crack at something.”
In a nine-fight pro career, the Bondi Boxing Club fighter already has two titles to his name, the WBC Australasian Welterweight title and an ANBF Australasian Super Welter title.
The latter came on the undercard of unbeaten superstar Tim Tszyu at the ICC in 2019, the venue for Wednesday night’s bout.
“They’re my two big achievements and that was always the goal to win titles,” he said.
“It’s a trophy that you carry with you for the rest of your life.
“Fighting over in Vietnam twice. They were big events with massive crowds.
“That was huge (Tszyu undercard). It was at the ICC so hopefully we’re going to make it 2-0 there.
“This is what it’s about. We can all fight at pubs and clubs here and there, but these high magnitude fight nights are what we do it for. These are why we put in the hard yards, day in and day out.
“That fight wasn’t televised. This will be my first televised. It’s a time for me to show everyone who I am and how I fight.
“I think I have a style that a lot of people will like, some people might not, but that’s up to their interpretation.”
While Covid proved tough for many in the fight game, it gave Pengue the ultimate chance to connect with his family and witness the joy of his child growing up before his eyes.
“At the start of that year we had a kid when my little boy Leo came along,” he said.
“I was matched for a fight in May (2020). Once Covid kicked in, I didn’t think there would be any fights for the rest of the year, so I decided to take the year off and enjoy that first year with my son because he’s only that age once.
“I took that year off, put on about 27kg, but I thought when the time comes to fight I’d lose the weight and I accepted that.
“I’m happy I did that, because I got to experience that first year with my son. Otherwise I would’ve been in camp training all year like I always am and wouldn’t have seen much of him.
“I got to experience beautiful parts of life.”
Pengue knows the danger that Hussain possesses, with the Queensland local having previously trained at the Waterloo gym.
He said there’s a healthy respect between the pair, that will be put aside temporarily when the bell rings.
“I had a fight that was cancelled last week, but I was lucky enough to get put on this card,” he said.
“He’s well known. Everyone knows him. He’s an incredible dude. We’ve done a camp here.
“There’s no hard feelings towards him, but it’s boxing. He wants to beat me, I want to beat him. We’re going to have a fight, and then after it we’ll have a chat.
“We’re professional athletes, we’re not going to carry on like mugs. It’s about being a good role model to the younger generation.”
Pengue vs Hussain will feature on the undercard of Paul Gallen vs Justin Hodges this Wednesday night at the International Convention Centre, Sydney.
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