A pair of Goulburn Valley Boxing Academy members are off to the South Pacific on a mission to pacify through modus of pain.
Academy owner Zedda Harrington and fighter Chris Boland will represent an elite Victorian Boxing Team heading overseas to square off against the Fijian National Boxing Team on Saturday.
Harrington has been elected as lead coach of the seven-strong squad, while Boland will don the gloves for the biggest fight of his life.
The 18-year-old meets Fijian national team captain Jone Davule, an opponent nine years his senior, in his home ring.
Davule is older, stronger and has far greater experience.
But Harrington is backing his ‘‘Bomber Boy’’ in all the way.
“This will be a massive challenge for him because, at the end of the day, boxing goes off weight and experience and things like that,” Harrington said.
“Chris is 18 and is fighting a 27-year-old who has had world championship experience — this is a massive jump in his career.
“We’ve got a good game plan in place and if we can stick to it Chris is trouble for anyone.
“We just hope the best (version of) Chris can fight overseas; it’s his first time fighting overseas and my first time coaching overseas, so it’s a really big experience for both of us.”
Harrington was given the tap for coaching duties by Boxing Victoria state team manager Scott Bindloss, just months after leading a Victorian squad at the Australian Schools Boxing Championships.
He and Boland go wheels up to Fiji on Thursday.
From there, they will have little more than a day to acclimatise and ready up for the weigh-in on Saturday morning before the fighting commences.
Boland has the height and reach on Davule, but the Fijian southpaw has international experience beneath his belt.
The Suva-based policeman made history earlier this year by becoming the first Fijian boxer to go past the opening stage of the Men’s World Boxing Championship, beating Zimbabwe’s Luckmore Kamoto in Uzbekistan.
As Boland’s mentor, Harrington had salient advice for his young protege approaching a daunting task.
“There’s a saying that it’s either win or learn — I’m not really big on that saying because if you keep losing you’re not really learning,” he said.
“I understand where it’s coming from and the meaning of it all, but I really feel with this one, if we do lose you can sit back and say this is a learning curve, this is a good taste of the level of competition of where we’re heading.
“Next year Chris has to be an elite boxer, he will be fighting the elites and he will be better for it.
“It will be a big learning experience for him, but with that said, our mindset is we’re going to win and nothing less. We’re going to give it everything we’ve got.”
From a wider scope, GVBA has punched above its weight class since inception in 2020 and this weekend is a prime example of it all.
Harrington said he often gets caught up in the academy’s momentum, but was reminded of just how far he and his band of Mill St pugilists have come.
“This time last year we were battling floods and we were knee-high deep in water and then we’re overseas,” he said.
“That’s the type of club we are; we’ve built off adversity, we’ve always been the underdogs and we’re producing very special things out of the club in the last three years considering everything we’ve battled against.”
Harrington also wished to thank all who have assisted Boland financially in the lead up, with only 15 days’ notice given for the trip.