Goulburn Valley Boxing Academy is officially worth its weight in gold.
Late last month, the Shepparton-based pugilism firm emerged from the 2024 Golden Gloves event in Brisbane with two shiny chains, one around the neck of Luke Slater and the other adorning Urijah Harrington.
Decades separate the pair in age, but one thing unites them: pure boxing prowess.
Slater took out a points decision over 2023 Masters Games boxing gold medallist Rashan O’Donnell on August 22, earning himself the Golden Gloves title against a heavier opponent.
And, while Slater’s victory was comfortable, the route to the fight was anything but.
“A month ago we couldn’t find anyone that was matching my experience and my weight, but then we got a late call,” Slater said.
“I was intending to go up to help coach the boys, but then got a late call the night before we left which was a big shock to us to say that there was some chance they could match me.
“I ended up fighting a guy that was not quite as experienced as me and a bit heavier; we thought they’d probably sort of equal out, and it was a good opportunity to have another fight and all worked out well.”
O’Donnell had four and a half kilos on Slater — a fair old difference in boxing terms.
However, Slater approached the bout a bit “quicker, sharper and more experienced” than his foe, and soon he was on O’Donnell like a rash.
“(The fight) went pretty well. He was a bit unorthodox, which made it a bit ... it was a little bit of an ugly fight, is my memory of it,” Slater said.
“I haven’t really watched it back, but I think in the first round, I sort of dominated and cracked him with some fairly clean, straight right hands.
“I generally bossed the fight I think and got a fairly comfortable unanimous win on points in the end.”
Slater’s unconventional run to the Golden Gloves title wasn’t the only occurrence of that nature at GVBA.
Punching prodigy Harrington lost out in a narrow points decision in his first fight against Marcel Tahan and, with the event seemingly wrapped up from GVBA’s perspective, the rest of his camp enjoyed a hard-earned cheat meal.
Harrington, however, wasn’t prepared to cheat himself.
“I wanted that fight very badly after losing,” he said.
“After I lost, I went over to Hungry Jacks and I ate a bit too much and then I got a call that I was fighting, so I had to cut a kilo before I fought.
“I had to do shadow boxing with heaps of clothes on, then I woke up in the morning and had to lose 800 grams by running.”
Harrington’s decision to swap fries for exercise paid off massively.
Event organisers Don and Ann Tindall reached out with an opportunity to fight again for the Golden Gloves prize after another young prodigy, Zayn Holmes, had his opponent pull out sick.
According to his dad and coach Zedda, young Harrington was “zapping on the mitts” before the fight and brought all that electricity into a high-voltage display against Holmes.
Harrington came out on top in a well-contested duel against Holmes, leaving those in his corner — his dad especially — proud as punch of his efforts to make weight.
“I thought my competition and my job was over, so I was having a couple of beers, enjoying myself with the rest of the team,” Zedda Harrington said.
“Next minute, I look at Urijah, he’s dripping sweat and I go, ‘what are you doing’? and he goes ‘no, I’m taking the fight dad’.
“It was one of them moments where you go, ‘wow, we’re dealing with a unique kid here’.
“He was just on fire. He just wanted to right a wrong and he won comfortably.”
While Urijah secured GVBA its second set of Golden Gloves after Slater’s heroics, younger brother Izaiah was unlucky not to make it a treble.
The pre-teen exhibited spoonfuls of skill, precision and heart during his bout against Jasper Dei Agnoli, who had come down from 37kg, but was not awarded the win despite his dad believing he’d triumphed.
“Looking back at the fight, we thought he did win,” Harrington said.
“I don’t want to sound like that guy because, you know, I’m an R and J (referee and judge) myself.
“So all I do to my guys if we don’t get the decision is say what did they see that we didn’t and how can we improve even though it was very hard to see what they saw that we didn’t.
“He just gave away a bit of weight, but I thought he landed the cleaner blows and he should have been awarded (the win), but it’s all experience at this age.
“He’ll just take it on the chin, he’ll be better for it.”
Now the dust has settled on the Golden Gloves experience, it’s back to the training ring for Slater and the Harrington boys.
Up next on Slater’s slate is a potential jaunt to the Gold Coast for the Masters Pan Pacific Games in November, while Urijah and Izaiah will blow back into Brisbane for the First Nations Championships while the New Zealand Nationals loom next year.
And, while exciting, there’s plenty of costs involved.
Zedda welcomed any assistance from those who wished to help fuel GVBA’s journey as the blossoming gym rumbles into its next chapter.
“We’re up against all these really well known, well established boxing gyms, but we’re here making a mark now,” he said.
“We’ve got to breed the next champion for sure.”