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Confessed “mummy’s boy” steps into the ring

 

Confessed “mummy’s boy” steps into the ring

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AOC
Harry Garside

24-year-old Victorian lightweight Boxer Harry Garside will make his Olympic debut today when he fights PNG athlete John Ume in the opening round at the Kokugikan stadium in Tokyo. 

When asked what drew a 9-year-old to boxing Harry quips “the short answer is I watched too many Rocky moves, the long answer is I was a bit of a softy, a wimp, more inclined to be a mommy’s boy.  I wanted to win the respect of my older brothers and especially my father.” 

The respect, for a man who has gone on to win a Commonwealth Gold Medal, is enormous and no doubt shared. 

“Dad is a tough bugga, roofer. He had two knee replacements and was back up on the roof six weeks later,” Harry Said. “He’s taught me a lot about life and manhood, seeing how hard he works. He’s instilled the value of hard work in me and I’ve worked my backside off to be here and I’m going to keep working hard.” 

“I know I can beat anyone, they are just like me, they are not superhuman and I’m going to give it all I’ve got.” 

Garside was only 20 when he announced himself on the world stage in 2018 at the gold Coast Games. 

“The biggest thing I’ve done since then is improve between the ears, I’ve matured,” he said. “Every month I challenge myself to do something that makes me uncomfortable. I test myself out of the ring and it makes me more fearless in the ring, I’m willing to take risks to grow as a person and growing outside of the ring helps me inside,” he said.  

What’s followed is everything from karaoke to ballet but keeping his mouth shut was the toughest. “That was so hard because I’m a massive chatterbox, but it taught me that maybe I need to let other people talk more and listen.’  

Along with his Commonwealth Gold, Garside also took out the Oceania championships where Ume finished with the bronze medal. If Garside can beat Ume in Tokyo, a tough contest against world number two Jonas Jonas of Namibia is looming in the round of 16. 

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