Hunter fighters claimed two gold, a silver and bronze medals in an outstandingly successful weekend at the Australian amateur boxing titles on the weekend.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Cessnock's teenage sensation Zack Fitzpatrick won his fourth Australian amateur title in a row and Toronto boxer Tristian Maskell defended his Australian Amateur Cruiserweight title with two knock-out victories.
Maitland's Blake Stone, 17, claimed silver in the Intermediate 63.5kg category and his training mate Willem Clarke, 20, finished with bronze in the Open 67kg category.
It was the first tilt for both the Maitland City Boxing Gym fighters and trainer Barry McDonald said they had outstanding tournaments and both should be very proud of their efforts.
"They did very well for their first shot at the Australian titles and will learn so much from the experience," McDonald said.
"Both boys are talking about next year up in Townsville and how they can take what they've learned from this time around to improve in 2020. I think knowing they can mix it with Australia's best will really inspire them to go further."
Stone lost a hard-fought points decision to Sydney fighter Luke Ugov.
Clarke was beaten in his semi-final by another Sydney fighter Abdulla Matter.
Fitzpatrick and Maskell's trainer Ben Crampton said both his fighters had tremendous tournaments winning their two fights in style.
Fitzpatrick, 15, beat Sydney fighter Jerome Nebut for the Australian Junior 51kg Amateur championship.
His unanimous points victory followed an equally emphatic elimination bout win against Tasmanian fighter Kaine Seabourne on Thursday night.
Maskell, who is now training under Crampton after fighting under Blake Minto, was even more emphatic stopping his opponent in the first round in his two fights.
"I told Tristian to start backing his own power and he did. He has natural power, he hadn't backed himself on it previously," Crampton said.
"I told him you can whack, it is your biggest asset, but I wasn't quite ready for the results being so emphatic.
"He stopped his first opponent in the first minute of the first round and then he did the same to Jack Clements in the final. Jack and Tristian went the distance in the NSW title earlier this year and it was extremely tight. This time Jack had no answers for Tristian's power.
"He forced an eight count with a body punch at the 47 second mark and after a flurry of punches the referee called the fight."
Crampton said Fitzpatrick fought brilliantly in his two fights.
"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 had a training camp at the Pound 4 Pound Gym in Las Vegas under Richard Los Barrientes in October in preparation for the Australian title.
"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.
"From the US trip, I improved a lot and learned a lot from the camp there. It made a massive difference.
"I had heaps of good sparring sessions."
"A lot of people who hadn't seen him (Zack) since last year commented that he had improved remarkably."
Fitzpatrick had a training camp at the Pound 4 Pound Gym in Las Vegas under Richard Los Barrientes in October in preparation for the Australian title.