MARTIAL ARTS
“I THINK it was actually supposed to be a confidence fight for him, so that made it better to get his scalp.”
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Despite battling a lung infection Orange’s Charlie Bubb, long considered a teen prodigy, more than lived up to his commanding amateur reputation by claiming a victory in his debut professional fight last weekend.
Although it was his plan anyway, Bubb was all but forced to turn professional thanks to rule changes in NSW, and battled through the aftermath of the infection to claim his maiden professional win at Penrith on Saturday night, taking down Sydney’s Rhyse Saliba in a split points decision.
Saliba, a two-time world champion regularly rated as one of the top fighters in Australia, is a veteran of 43 bouts and lost recently, leaving Bubb with the impression his opponent was after a fight to tune up, and obviously claim a win.
Instead, Bubb ambushed him.
“It was a good one to get first up,” Bubb said.
“I was training twice a week with Wharto [trainer, Anthony Wharton], but then I did get the lung infection three weeks out ... a week before the fight my confidence went way down because I just had no fitness because of the illness, it really affected me in the back end of each round.
“I’d die in the last 30 seconds, my lungs weren’t used to it. But I pushed through, and to take the scalp of Rhyse in my first fight was awesome.”
Despite a slow start, Bubb’s speed and tenacity proved the difference in the bout, and cutting Saliba with an elbow in the third didn’t hurt either.
“I started off a bit slow, he was picking me off with his kicks a bit but I kept pushing forward with my punches and he slowed down a bit. I slowed down too, I was buggered,” Bubb explained.
“But I kept pushing forward and he didn’t really have an answer for my hands.”
From here, Bubb is hoping to go to Thailand over Christmas to train and potentially fight as well, before another potential bout in February.
A two-time junior world champion, Bubb said he’s looking to continue training and fighting at the professional level before tackling the senior, professional equivalent in 2017.
“There’s a big difference jumping up to the professional level,” Bubb explained.
“Someone like Rhyse, he’s a real thai-stylist, so he’s got great technique. There’s more skill when you move up from the amateurs, who just want to punch on.
“There’s a bit more involved mentally. The trials for the worlds were on during my HSC, so I put it off and I’ll look at going the year after next.”