AFTER a frantic first half of 2016, finishing off with a gold medal in last weekend’s Combined North Queensland Games/Golden Gloves Tournament in Cairns, a well-deserved rest from fighting is on the cards for Orange’s Jack Littlefield.
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Littlefield claimed gold in the senior 71kg (light middleweight) division and will have a month or two off before the Australian Amateur Boxing League National Championship later this year.
He wasn’t even supposed to be fighting in the senior ranks in Cairns though.
“I entered Jack in the intermediate, under-19 division. He was one of three and drew the bye so went straight through the final,” Jack’s father and trainer Dave Littlefield said.
“When I told him that he asked me to put him up into the senior divison, he knew he’d be the fourth in that and that would give him the chance of two fights if he won his elimination semi-final. He wanted to make the most of the long trip.
“So, we did. Jack has fought a bit in senior so knew what to expect.”
That much is obvious, considering he went on to win.
In Friday night’s semi-final Littlefield, the NSW League Boxing Amateur light-middleweight champion, fought Cairns local Zocoa Woods.
“Jack used his jab a lot and boxed a lot on the back foot, using angles to create openings for several hard right hands that landed,” Dave Littlfield said.
“Jack won unanimously over the four, two-minute rounds.”
That win shot the 18-year-old into Saturday night’s gold medal fight, against experienced southpaw Joel Hutchison.
“Joel’s tall, with a long reach and has over 80 fights under his belt,” Dave Littlefield explained.
“The first round was very even but then Jack out-punched him on the inside to win the second and third ... and he shaded the fourth to win a tough and very close fight.
“It’s a credit to Jack that he wanted the toughest fights to win the gold medal. As always, we’d like to thank Subway Orange for their support.”
Jack out-punched him on the inside to win the second and third ... and he shaded the fourth to win a tough and very close fight.
- Dave Littlefield
Oberon’s Dave Sellers also boxed in Cairns, fighting in the super heavyweight division – two weight classes above his own.
He was just beaten out by Sean Bloor in his opening fight, but Bloor’s busted hand forced him to withdraw.
That gave Sellers the chance to fight for a gold medal as well.
He was beaten by Lewis Hambly though.