Cessnock's teenage boxing sensation Zack Fitzpatrick is setting his sights on fights in the United States after claiming his fourth Australian amateur title in a row.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Fitzpatrick, 15, beat Sydney fighter Jerome Nebut for the Australian Junior 51kg Amateur championship at the Croatian Club at Punchbowl on Friday night.
His unanimous points victory followed an equally emphatic elimination bout win against Tasmanian fighter Kaine Seabourne on Thursday night.
"We had a good game plan and stuck to it and it worked well," a modest Fitzpatrick said of his Aussie title success which leaves his record at 15 wins from 15 fights.
More forthcoming and effusive his Cessnock trainer Ben Crampton of his young charge's performance in the two fights.
"Zack fought brilliantly," Crampton said. "It was a very polished effort, it was very good.
"He fought an eliminator on Thursday night and won it really well. I thought he was nearly going to stop his him.
"His opponent in the final was very handy, but Zack handled it well. After the first round, after having a look at him, he really brings it home. By the end of the fight he was all over it.
"A lot of people who hadn't seen him (Zack) since last year commented that he had improved remarkably."
Fitzpatrick and Crampton put the young fighter's continued improvement down to a harder training regime and training camps in the US, including one in October in Las Vegas, where he has been pitted in sparring sessions against some of America's best prospects.
"From the US trip, I improved a lot and learned a lot from the camp there. It made a massive difference," Fitzpatrick said.
"We trained at Pound for Pound in Las Vegas, the trainer there is Richard Los Barrientes who is very good to train with. It was great.
"I had heaps of good sparring sessions. I'd say we will go back to the US a few times next year for some camps and hopefully get a fight in.
"Benny (Crampton) will keep on guiding me, but we'll keep going back to the US getting good sparring, get some fights in there and keep moving forward."