Australia win five gold medals at the OCBC Oceania Confederation Boxing Championships as 18 boxers earn quota places for Doha 2015

August 31st, 2015 / All

An exciting climax to the 2015 OCBC Oceania Confederation Boxing Championships produced a series of excellent finals in Canberra, where Australia sealed five of the ten gold medals on offer.

A total of 30 boxers from eight countries registered to take part in the competition, which also served as a qualification event for the AIBA World Boxing Championships, as 18 athletes earned their quota for Doha 2015.

The top class tournament finished with seven separate nations earning a medal in Australia’s beautiful capital city.

Against a field dominated by experienced campaigners, Vanuatu sealed their first ever gold medal in the history of the event when Boe Warawara triumphed at Bantamweight (56 kg).

Papua New Guinea also clinched a memorable place at the top of the podium after the entertaining Charles Keama excelled in his Flyweight (52 kg) final over New Zealand’s Ivan Pavich.

Three of Pavich’s compatriots won their weight classes in Canberra, with Lightweight (60 kg) Chad Milnes, Welterweight (69 kg) Joshua Nyika and Heavyweight (91 kg) David Nyika helping the country earn their best results in the event since 2005.

It was Australia who excelled on finals day however, as they finished top of the medal table after five of their boxers emerged victorious in front of their delighted fans at ringside.

Joshua English (49 kg), David Biddle (64 kg), Daniel Lewis (75 kg), and Aaron Spagnolo (81 kg) all performed to their traditionally high standards, while Super Heavyweight (91+ kg) sensation Joseph Goodall capped a wonderful tournament for the hosts with their fifth gold medal.

“I fought well, kept the tempo high and my fitness held up as well over his. I felt a little rust as expected, but I was happy to get the gold medal following my silver at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games,” said Goodall.

Gold medal winners in Canberra