Sport
30 October, 2024
Boxer wants to defend his title in Mount Isa
Allan Hazle says he's working on hosting a big fight night in his home city.
World Champion boxer Allan Hazle wants to bring the big fight nights back to Mount Isa.
Hazle told North West Weekly that he can remember the days when hundreds would pack the rafters for boxing events or would cram into the Irish Club to watch hometown champ Cliff Sarmardin.
Fresh off the plane from his unexpected victory in Germany and now armed with a WBF World Masters Welterweight belt, Hazle hopes to be part of a rejuvenation in local boxing fight nights.
According to boxing federation rules, Hazle has six months to defend his world title.
The contender has already been determined – with Townsville fighter and 2024 WBF boxer of the year Joel Herlihy set to challenge Hazle for his belt.
Now the pair just need a location – and Hazle wants the world title fight to be held in Mount Isa.
“There would be nothing better than defending your title in front of a home crowd,” Hazle said.
“If we could arrange for the fight to be in Mount Isa and give something back to the city that would be a dream come true.
“We already have another world champion with (WBF World Masters Heavyweight champ) Sunny Raitava in Mount Isa – so it would be great to see him on the fight card as well.”
Hazle said there is mountainous talent among our local young boxers, and he hopes to also use the world title clash as a way to feature these youngsters on the fight undercard.
“I am at the end of my time in the ring, but I want to be able to promote other young fighters and give them more opportunities to step into the ring,” he said.
“I think the young boxers we have in this city are levels above what you would see in other cities.
“There are some fighters in this town that could become Australian champions.”
Hazle said he had recovered well from his six-round bout in Germany on October 5, where he took the title in a unanimous judge decision over his West Australian opponent, Anthony Hawkins.
Hazle said a previous shoulder injury restricted his offensive capabilities, which meant he completed the first round in his natural orthodox stance while he tested Hawkins’ speed and strength before shifting to southpaw for the remaining rounds, which confused his opponent.
The 53-year-old said he then focused on defensive footwork to manoeuvre and frustrate Hawkins and gain the upper hand round by round, resulting in the bout going the distance but ensuring Hazle the win.
Hazle said the 70-hour journey in flights and stopovers between Mount Isa and western Germany was perhaps the most gruelling part of the experience – which also led to the awkward situation where pure coincidence saw Hazle and Hawkins sit directly across from each other in the aisle seats of row 38 for the 13-hour flight between Singapore and Munich.
Hazle has already used his world title win for a net positive for Mount Isa, speaking to youngsters at New Nation Gym last week.
“I just hope I can use this all to give something back to Mount Isa – which has always been so good to me and my family,” he said.
“It’s still very surreal when people call me ‘champ’ but it is such an honour to have been given this opportunity.”