THE most successful boxing club in the country is right in the heart of the Mitchell Shire, and House of Stoush Boxing Academy proved it at the Australian Junior Boxing Championships in Brisbane recently.
The Wallan club recently contributed an incredible 10 boxers out of 160 to the championships, while also earning three gold medals, a host of silver medallists and semi-finalists, showcasing that it leads the charge for boxing’s future in Australia.
The club was incredibly successful, with Ivy Dawson earning her third Australian title, as well as Female Fighter of the Tournament for a second successive year, while Monique Rowe and Bella Cassar also got to add their names as Australian champions.
Zac Richardson and Ryan Hall took out silver medals, while Sonny Isbel, Riley Jackson, Mohammed Noori and Tye Oakford were all semi finalists in what was a wildly successful 2026 at the championships for House of Stoush.
House of Stoush coach and owner Bryce Poorter paid tribute to all members.
“We had 10 on the Victorian state team out of 38 fighters, so more than a quarter of the team came from Wallan, which is fantastic as a little town,” he said.
“Ivy is a very good boxer. It’s the second year in a row she has won the female fighter of the tournament. She works very hard and she has a very big future.
“Monique didn’t have anyone in her weight division, so she stepped up and went up three kilos. She fought a girl who was probably a head taller than her, so she gave up a big size difference, but she is very strong and rag dolled her opponent.
“She had the option of not fighting, or there was another girl that fights in the weight division above. She barely made the weight division at 55 kilos, and the other girl was 58, meeting at 57.
“Bella is really good. She only just turned 13, but I’ve been training her since she was about five years old. It’s special. For her to win, she had a silver last year, so to go one step better this year, I was really proud of her.
“One of the silver medallists was quite unlucky, I felt, and the semi-finalists were in close fights as well, so it could have gone either way. They aren’t far off the mark. Another year’s experience, and they can hopefully go a couple of steps better.”
Mr Poorter said female boxing was on the rise as a sport that was easy to access.
“Female boxing is getting bigger and bigger. It’s hard to play top-level basketball, football or netball, unless you are athletically gifted, and you have the DNA. The chance of playing high-level is pretty hard, but boxing is all about weight division, so it doesn’t matter if you are tall or small, it’s all about your weight,” he said.
House of Stoush’s Danny Bolts paid tribute to the town being the heartland of Australian junior boxing.
“I’m blown away. People sometimes ask where Wallan is, and I say it is leading the boxing charge. It’s unreal what we’ve been able to do – full credit to Bryce, it’s his gym, but it’s an unbelievable story. Three gold medallists and also having the representation we had. Ten kids from our gym. It’s not as much as entering your name and doing it; you have to be good enough to win state titles,” he said.
“It’s a credit to the community for having the talent. It’s not just Bryce getting the talent out of them, which he has, you need the perfect coach and the perfect talent – and we have that.”
