Australian junior boxing champion Santino Brigante can add another belt to his collection after winning the Gene Lewis Cup in the United States earlier this month.
Representing Australia in the largest and longest-running boxing tournament in the United States, Santino achieved his international dreams by taking on some of the world’s best boxers in the junior category in the under 48-kilogram division.
The Wandong 15-year-old reached the international competition by claiming the title of Australian Junior Boxing champion at the 2023 Australian Schools Championships at Adelaide in July.
Santino claimed his belt at the international competition after two fights, made up of three rounds each lasting two minutes each.
Prior to his fights, the Australian junior boxing champion had to gain two more kilograms to fight since there were no other competitors in his usual weight division, 46 kilograms.
Santino injured his finger when he threw an overhand against his first opponent from Hawaii.
“I didn’t notice until after the fight because of the adrenaline rush I had,” Santino said.
Taking the momentum from the first fight, Santino’s preparedness carried through to his second bout where he defeated a larger opponent from Alaska, which secured him the winning belt.
“My opponent was bigger than me and he looked stronger than me. My coach said ‘we’re going to take a gamble, you’re going to run around the ring, work on your back foot’ and it worked,” Santino said.
Santino said he was in ‘shock’ when he claimed the winning belt.
“[I was] so happy. I couldn’t wait to tell everyone – see everyone’s reactions,” he said.
Santino joined other successful Australian juniors to return with a team trophy for the best junior team.
He is considering his next fight in Fiji in December.
Santino said more international competitions would benefit his boxing career.
“I want to travel more for the experience and just the glory,” he said.
“It will give me more experience like intel on how other people from the countries fight and how they train.”
