Point Cook kickboxer Wilson Lay has won a state title after defeating Kaiki Furutani-Burns by TKO.
The 24-year old trains at Altona Kickboxing under Prince Bunjaku, who in August is competing in the World Heavyweight Championship.
“Before this, I never did any martial arts in my life, didn’t have a background in kickboxing,“ Lay said.
“My mate told me about this Altona Kickboxing gym that just opened up.
“I decided to join up with a friend because I just wanted a sport or an outlet to enjoy.
“We learned all the basics, learned the fundamentals of everything and decided, let’s try out amateurs.
“From there, it was a crazy journey because throughout the amateurs I lost all my fights.
“I didn’t want to stop because I enjoyed the actual sport of it and it became a learning point every time.
“I didn’t mind the losing – I never saw it as a deterrance to the sport itself.
“When you get into the sport, it becomes a team – you become a family, almost.
“That’s what really drove me into it so much and got me so committed into.“
Prince kept Lay on the bill at kickboxing shows and he eventually turned pro.
“I actually got my first win on the pros,“ Lay said.
“From here, there’s still more work to do.
“We’ve just got to keep training, get the right fights where we can learn off them and our aim is to go for the Aus’ title.“
