Griffith Swans footballer Josh Hamilton has proven he’s as much as a force in the ring as he is on the field.
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Hamilton won his amateur interstate heavyweight fight in Albury on Saturday after earning a unanimous points decision over Shane Hughes in the night’s main support bout.
The Griffith Aussie rules star wasn’t playing at the weekend because of the Swans’ bye and accepted the fight at short notice.
Griffith City Boxing coach Mario Rizzeri, who trains Hamilton, said the brief preparation didn’t bother the 99kg enforcer.
“He’s football fit,” Rizzeri said of Hamilton.
“It was a very hard fight. Shane kept coming at him, but Hamilton was the cleaner boxer and landed more solid shots.”
Fighting on the same card, Griffith City Boxing stablemate Greg Halden lost a split decision to Australian champion Mitchell Watt after stripping four kilograms off his already lean 76kg frame to make weight.
Rizzeri said Halden sweated off the excess in the sauna and during punishing early morning runs.
“The weight Greg had to get off for the day should’ve deterred him with his strength, but he still fought strong,” he said.
“He deserved to win the fight. He did the better punching and he was cleaner and connected more. Ninety per cent of the crowd thought he should’ve won.”
Halden has a goal of representing Australia at the 2016 Olympics, but Rizzeri said it had been hard finding opponents for the Rio aspirant.
“At this stage the only ones putting their hands up are Australian champions who are either heavier than him or a couple of kilos lighter than his best weight,” he said.
“It’s a bit hard because he’s only been fighting for 12 months.
“We know that boxing is all about getting knocks, but sometimes we have to overcome the knocks that come with the decision.”
Halden hopefully won’t have to wait long before his next fight, with Rizzeri trying to organise a bout against Australian middleweight champion Shane Hasler in Cootamundra on May 30. Rizzeri also hopes to secure Hamilton a fight.