Wyndham Community Boxing Club will showcase one of its premier boxers and unveil a new breed at the ISCW Boxing Cup at the Italian Sports Club of Werribee on Sunday.
Parek Wol will be the headline act for the club with Cam Anderson also on the card and newcomers Ben Sosoli, Sai Vaimoso and Mars Feterika stepping into the ring for the first time.
Wol, a middleweight, will prove a formidable opponent for John Mansour.
He is a former state youth champion and reigning state golden gloves champion.
Only a knuckle injury stopped him from making it to the national titles this year.
According to trainer Darren Cowley, Wol is one of the most loved fighters at the club.
“He’s not only a very skilful boxer but he’s also just a great kid,” Cowley said. “All the boys in the club love him.”
Wol will head into the event under an injury cloud. A troublesome knee, left wrist and right-hand knuckle are some of his ailments.
You will not find Wol complaining.
“There won’t be any excuses – he’ll be good to go,” Cowley said.
Three of Wyndham’s other three fighters are very much unknowns. Sosoli at least has competitive fighting experience, having fought in six mixed martial arts fights and a kickboxing bout.
“He’s having his first boxing fight so it’s all foreign to him,” Cowley said.
“He’s come over from New Zealand and he’s a wrestler, so his background is the ground stuff and now he’s trying to build his stand-up attack.”
Sosoli, an imposing super heavyweight, has endeared himself to the people at BoxingFit Hoppers Crossing, the home gym of the Wyndham club. He is often seen working the pads for youngsters at the club.
“He’s our gentle giant,” Cowley said. “He’ll take the 10 or 11 years olds aside and kick a ball around or do the pads for them.”
Vaimoso and Feterika, also super heavyweights, have no ring experience but have shown a tremendous work ethic.
“They’ve sparred extensively so there’s no issues getting into the ring, but there’s always a mystique surrounding the crowd, the ref, the judges, the weigh-in and that sort of thing,” Cowley said. “So they’ll have to go through that process and might be a bit nervous.
“By virtue of working hard, you get to step up and have a fight and that’s what they’ve done.”
Meanwhile, Werribee boxer Joe Lloyd lost in six rounds by unanimous decision to Jamie Porter at Jupiters Casino on the Gold Coast on Friday night.
