It takes a great amount of courage for anyone to step into the boxing ring, but for Rockhampton stock agent Liam Karrasch, it was an opportunity he couldn't pass on. After graduating from high school in 2014, Liam spent seven years working on Queensland and WA cattle stations as a hand, before taking on the role as stock agent for Brian Dawson Auctions Livestock & Property Marketing. Mr Karrasch has been a stock agent in the Rockhampton region for two years now, a role he says he's always wanted to do. "All my life, I've grown up around cattle and I guess that passion first started on my grandparents property," he said. "It's great work traveling across central Queensland, talking to graziers and fellow stock agents who've been in the industry for along time." Having grown up in a rural setting, Liam said he's witnessed how serious the outcome of mental health can be. In November last year, he put his hand up to take part in the Rockhampton Boxing Charity fight night event at CQLX Gracemere, to raise awareness for men's mental health. Although, he's never boxed in his life, Mr Karrasch said he was passionate about raising awareness for men's mental health and providing support to those who suffer. "I'm a big advocate for men's mental health myself, especially in the rural industries and I don't think it's an easy topic to talk about," he said. "My mate Liam Barram was in the charity fight last year and I made made a bit of a joke and said I'll get into it next year if he trained me. "When the time rolled around, he offered to train me and we turned his shed into a boxing ring. "I've never been in a fight before in my life so it was certainly a new experience for me." Liam underwent an intense training regime for eight weeks in readiness for the event at Gracemere held on November 26, last year. Mr Karrasch admitted he was nervous heading into the ring. "I don't think anything can prepare you for squaring off against someone across the ring really," he said. "All I could think about was sticking to the game plan we had and make sure I put on a good enough show for everyone that came and bought tickets." The boxing match lasted all three rounds - consisting of one and a half minute rounds. Upon his reflections on his performance, Mr Karrasch said he didn't remember breathing during the entire match. "It's definitely a surreal feeling - I couldn't hear the crowd and the only thing I was tuned into was my coach's voice and concentrating on what my opponent was doing," he said. "Personally, I think I went all right and I came out with the win, which was a great felling. "My opponent was tough as nails though, so it was definitely a good fight and I actually came out of the fight pretty unscathed, which was a big shock for me because my opponent got a few decent hits in." In the end, the underdog boxer raised $3560 for men's mental health. In total, the Rockhampton Boxing Charity event raised a total of $34,793 for Movember. Mr Karrasch said he would love to give boxing another go in the future. "It was a really good experience and everyone who fought they were really good and everyone had everyone's back," he said. "I would happily give it a go either for charity or even just a bit of fun."
