The round of 16 bout shaped as a classic between two men who both claimed Commonwealth Games Gold medals in 2018, Garside at lightweight, Jonas at light welter. 

Jonas, had worked tirelessly to shape himself as a world class lightweight and was favoured to go all the way to the medals. Tonight, he was simply outclassed. 

Garside’s footwork and head movement was superb, bobbing, weaving and using lightning-fast hands to outscore his opponent. After dominating the first round, Garside went on with it for the rest of the fight. 

When Jonas did put him under pressure the man who has dabbled in ballet would spin his opponent and back him on the ropes. It was a masterclass. 

Soon after his arm was raised in victory Garside looked to the camera with a message for home “I love you mum, love you dad, love you Brian, three more to go.”

Brian Levier, his veteran trainer turns 79 this year and he is on the verge of producing an Olympic medallist.   

“I’ve been with him since I was nine, he’s 79 this year, It’s crazy to think I’m here, it’s been a long journey I failed to make the last Olympics, but now there’s three to go,” he said. 

Asked how tough it was preparing through COVID with gyms locked down, Garside was typically philosophical.  

“It was tough last year for sure, grateful I’ve got a boxing bag at home and you don’t need much, you look at some of the third world countries and I see how they train, they are resilient, so I took a leaf from their book.” 

With no crowd in attendance, one thing you could hear during the fight were the voices of Garside’s team-mates, “150% I could hear everything they were saying. I wish they were still in the competition, a few tough decisions for them, but I’m flying the flag for Australia, and I really want that gold medal.” 

Next up for Garside is a quarterfinal contest with Zakir Safiullin of Kazakhstan. 

Jon Harker