Goulburn Valley Boxing Academy’s next generation has brushed gloves with one of the best to ever do it.
Izaiah and Urijah Harrington, sons of GVBA owner Zedda, crossed state lines to Perth’s Adriatic Club on May 10 to contest a Boxing WA tournament, where they both reaped rich rewards in the ring.
Friday’s fight night in the Wild West pitted older brother and Golden Gloves champion Urijah Harrington against Zayn Holmes, with the GV local landing a clear points win over his opponent.
Younger sibling Izaiah, the youngest active Boxing Victoria athlete, stopped foe George Washer in the second round, which bodes well for the powerful young puncher as he prepares for a title fight in South Australia’s Mt Barker on June 22.
The following day at Big Rigs Gym, the boys bumped into Vasiliy Lomachenko.
With an amateur record of 396 career wins and one loss, Lomachenko is widely regarded as one of the finest amateur boxers to have graced the planet.
Encountering such a high-profile star, an idol to two of the region’s up-and-coming pugilists, drew a real rise from the Harrington boys according to their dad.
“It was one of the best boxing weekends of our life, and if you know the Harringtons, you know there’s been plenty of them,” he said.
The trio watched as the Ukrainian stopped Australia’s George Kambosos Jr in the 11th round to take home the IBF lightweight title in Perth.
The Lomachenko brush was only the beginning of a fantastic fortnight for Urijah Harrington.
Upon returning from WA, the teenage sensation packed his bags for Adelaide, along with GVBA legend Luke Slater, for the Australian Club Championships from May 17 to 19.
Urijah met Marcel Tahhan in the ring with redemption in mind after the NSW fighter defeated him earlier in the year.
When it was time to touch gloves for the rematch, Urijah’s coach and father knew they had to draft a new game plan.
“We changed our tactics and met him in the middle, we bullied the bully, backed him up and beat them at their game,” he said.
“It is a huge testament to an upcoming athlete, to be able to change styles so early in his career is a special gift to have.”
Urijah struck his opponent into crimson submission and scored a gold medal in the process, teeing up an epic meeting between the pair at July’s nationals.
Lastly, Slater bobbed and weaved his way to the Boxing Australia 63.5kg Masters Title.
His opponent, Roy Brens, weighed in at 67kg, meaning the Shepparton slugger was only eligible to win the title if he was up on the cards at the end of the bout.
To no surprise, that’s precisely what he did.
Slater dominated each round with consummate ease to wrap the strap around his waist and tick off a significant fortnight for the GVBA books.
Lastly, Harrington wished to thank the sponsor for GVBA’s WA trip, Webb & Wills Construction.
“We honestly can’t thank our financial support enough, how we try is by the effort we put into our training,” he said.
“Aiming for the top where we all will be some day.”