They came, they saw, they conquered Cobram.
Rob Conte and Scott Henery, who fight out of Murf’s Boxing Club in Shepparton, had a successful jaunt at Victorian Amateur Boxing League’s Regional Fight Night at the Apex Centre on July 22.
Up first was 18-year-old Henery, setting the tone.
He raised his fist in glory after working over Bendigo’s Arshdeep Singh to a unanimous points decision, notching his second win inside the ring.
Trainer Dale Murphy said the youngster had his family watching on and did not disappoint when the bell sounded.
“He was out to impress and he did, he really showed them what he’s got,” Murphy said.
“He fought very well, very hard, he did everything I asked him to do.
“He’s going from strength to strength, he’s just getting better and better as he goes along.”
The exact same could be said for his boxing club stablemate.
Conte, 22, rattled sizeable opponent Dave Goodwin to take out the Regional Title in a split decision win, laying claim to his second belt in three weeks.
“What a fight,” Murphy said.
“This guy’s obviously a lot bigger than him and Rob’s come out in the first round and grit his teeth and just got into it.
“He was hitting him with some of the biggest left hooks I’ve ever seen, I don’t know how the bloke didn’t go down.”
Conte passed through the first round with aplomb, rocking his opponent with a series of mighty strikes.
The instruction from Murphy for the second was strict, but simple.More of the same please.
But in the third round as Murphy frankly put it, “Dave Goodwin started to come good’’.
“I got a little bit angry with Rob, I said ‘what are you doing?’,” Murphy said.
“I said ‘you’re going to have to win this round to win the fight’, and he said ‘I better get out there and do it then’.
“He started out slow, but jeez he came home with a real wet sail and just laid into him.
“The last 10 seconds really won it for Rob, he let go of a seven punch combination and out of seven punches, I think four or five of them landed.”
Conte had no trouble reminding his mentor he’s now a two-time champion after lifting the belt.
However, ‘’trouble’’ is a word many would have associated with Conte right up until this year.
It trailed him all his life until he walked into Murphy’s gym eight months ago, the day when boxing became a vessel for Conte, his conduit.
It takes courage for a man to throw up his hands and admit he’s on the wrong path and even more still to wrap those hands and put them to work in the ring.
And people are starting to notice Conte for exactly that.
“Rob’s had a lot of counselling workers and prison officers contact him during the week, telling him how proud they are of him and how far he’s come,” Murphy said.
“I had quite a few in my gym just praise him, it’s been a real big wake up call for him, you know?
“I’ll be honest, when he first came to the gym I’ve gone ‘oh god, this isn’t going to last long’.
“But eight months down the track we’re still together and fighting strong.
“We went down to Melbourne on the weekend for sparring with some of the best fighters in Australia and, although he got smacked around a bit, he learned from it. That’s where it all starts, in the gym.”
Murphy had plans for Conte’s next fight to be a national title bout.
However, the slate has altered slightly with Goodwin hell bent on a rematch following his loss.
Conte will fight twice more before he heads into his biggest fight in Wodonga on September 23, so for now, it’s back to the bag for the crew at Murf’s.
It’s a crew Murphy wants to grow in size.
The gym owner has indicated he wants to clear the way for more success stories like Conte and Henery, inviting those interested to join him at his Welsford St centre.
“I’d like to put the word out to people to get their kids into the gym, especially if they’ve got mental health issues ― the exercise is great for them,” Murphy said.
“Especially kids with autism and things like that, they learn to communicate with other people.
“Get them off the computers and into the gym, get them doing a sport they’re going to enjoy.”