Red hot
Volume 11, No. 49, August 10, 2006
By Barry Rollings

On the rise: Pte Dan McDevitt during his championship bout with Angus Hamm at the Australian Junior Boxing Championships. Photo by Ben McDevitt

LITTLE did Pte Dan McDevitt realise that his quest for fitness five years ago would one day lead to a silver medal at the Australian Junior Boxing Championships.

Fighting in the 64kg (light welterweight) division at Marrara Sporting Complex in Darwin on July 21-22, Pte McDevitt won his semi-final against Queensland’s Scott Kemp.

In the Saturday final, Pte McDevitt, 18, encountered tough and experienced WA boxer Angus Hamm and lost on points 17-31.

Pte McDevitt, who joined the Army on February 14 and received an invitation in May to contest the nationals, said he was happy with his results and had pulled up fairly well after the tournament.

“I’ve been boxing for five years and originally became involved at Erindale Police-Citizens Youth Club to keep fit,” Pte McDevitt said.

“I hope I have done well enough to win selection in the Australian team for the Junior World Boxing Championships in Morocco in September.”

Before the tournament, he had just completed 80 days of advanced infantry training at Kapooka and is now stationed with a holding platoon at Singleton.

He returned there to continue his infantry training on July 25 and that will necessitate a break of about 10 weeks in his boxing activities.

Leading into the nationals, he had contested nine fights in Canberra, one at Richmond and one in Adelaide for a record of 11 fights for five wins and six losses.

Pte McDevitt’s semi-final produced a points decision against Kemp on the “outclassed” rule when McDevitt had amassed 20 points early in the second round after being ahead 14-2 after round one.

The pushing tactics of the powerful Hamm in the final made it difficult for Pte McDevitt to get away from his body punches.

“I was really proud of him,” Ben McDevitt said of his son’s efforts. “He fought very resolutely and was very committed to achieving the best result possible.”

“He was obviously a bit nervous before the first fight but he came out very strongly. The body punches he was putting in that first fight were incredible and the guy from Queensland succumbed to it within about 30 seconds of the second round,” Ben McDevitt said.

“The guy he fought in the final was definitely more experienced than Daniel and won on points. Daniel went the distance and would have been dead keen to keep it going, but the other guy was landing more scoring punches.”

He thanked the Army for its support, especially in giving him time off to train.

“He trained three times a day for six weeks in Canberra and he also went to a camp on the NSW South Coast,” he said.

“I am really happy for him that his hard work and training has paid off. He is well placed now and I won’t be at all surprised if he gets an invitation back to the nationals next year.”

The head coach of the ACT boxing team, Don Abnett, said that the score in the final was not a true indication of the bout.

“He came home with silver but I believe he deserved gold,” Mr Abnett said. “His opponent did not like Dan’s constant pressure and aggression but his tactics did not allow Dan to get his body shots away.”