Ararat’s Luke Preston has had the best possible start to his boxing career, winning his first fight in Ringwood on Sunday.
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Preston won the heavyweight bout via a split points decision after three two-minute rounds.
The 25-year-old said it was great to notch up his first win of his career in his first fight.
“I am pretty happy with how it went,” he said.
“The opponent was a lot bigger than what I was expecting but it went as well as we could have hoped.
“Happy to get the win and just a good way to start my career.”
While the Ararat resident had been training for the past 12 months, he only got three weeks notice for the fight and weighed in at 86kg for the fight
Preston said he was not as ready as he wanted to be for his first bout but was happy with the performance overall.
The bout continued a proud family tradition for Preston, something he said contributed to his interest in the sport.
“My grandfather was a boxer back in the day which got me interested in it along with some other family members,” he said.
“But I could not have done it without my partner Clare and my brother Kade who was also a pretty big help in the lead-up.”
Preston sticks to a strict training regime at Beaufort’s Southern Pride Boxing Club where he trains most days as well as sparring sessions twice a week before going to Ballarat once or twice a week for extra sessions.
Preston’s trainer Steve Stranks has been training boxers for 34 years and said Preston was one of the most talented guys he had seen.
"He is a late starter, given he is 25, but he trained extremely hard for 12 months to prepare for the fight,” he said.
"I have been in it for 34 years and he is the heaviest puncher I have seen in that time, he has a lot of raw power that he can generate and it is definitely one of his biggest assets.”
“To be able to do what he did in his first fight with a short preparation just shows how good he is.
“It was a really close fight but he got the nod through his aggression and determination which he needed to do against the bigger opponent.
“Luke liked to get on the front foot and move forward and hit him with as much as he could, that was the plan.”
As for Preston’s future in boxing, Stranks said they are not looking too far ahead.
“At his age, we will take one fight at a time,” he said.
“It would be nice to think he could win a Victorian title down the track but we are not getting ahead of ourselves.
“In this particular fight, nerves took their toll, so we need to tidy the boxing up a bit more for his next fight.”
Preston said his next fight will be in West Brunswick on July 23.
“I will obviously go into the next one with a lot more confidence after the win first up.” he said. “And hopefully get another win.”