Olympic Boxer, DNA Cover Model, Harry Garside Wins Australian Lightweight Title
Australian Olympic boxer Harry Garside (current issue DNA #267 cover guy and LGBTQIA+ ally) faced one of his toughest opponents last night and won. Garside squared off against Sudanese-Australian boxer Manuer Matet for the Australian Lightweight title on Wednesday, April 6 and has come away the champion, reports Fox Sports.
“It’s Mature Boxing”
Harry Garside, fresh from his bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics, faced Manuer Matet, who is considerably more seasoned in the ring and had a 4-1 record against Garside’s one win in a professional fight.
Commentators watching the game were stunned by Garside’s athleticism and commended his play. Former world champion Barry Michael said, “He’s moving beautifully, Harry Garside. He has impeccable timing. He got caught a few but the majority of the time he’s making Matet miss and then landing his own, and then he skips away.”
This match against Matet went 10 rounds, which many believed would prove more difficult for Garside who is more accustomed to shorter bouts of boxing, but proving he could go the distance Garside measured his energies to deliver an excellent show in the later rounds.
According to Fox Sports, Garside’s speed and agility had Matet chasing him around the ring during the third round before Garside landed a series of blows in the final minute. In the fourth round, Garside used his speed to tire Matet out.
Let’s Get To Know The Australian Lightweight Champion
According to Fox Sports, before the match Garside was considered the underdog. Although he has an Olympic bronze medal, transitioning from amateur boxing to the professional level requires extreme focus and effort.
Garside says, “I believe in myself and I know my team believes in me. My family is working class; I’m from Melbourne. For them to come up from Melbourne they have to take a day off work tomorrow, a day off work on Thursday.
“They come up here and pay for tickets as well. I’m not going to be fighting someone I’m supposed to knock out in one or two rounds. I want to be fighting someone who is a challenge. I feel like it’s disrespectful to my family if I was fighting someone I was supposed to beat (easily),” he concludes.
Inexplicably, Garside felt he could have done better in the match, despite commentators such as Barry Michael saying, “I cannot believe his fitness, that was impressive,” about Garside.
“I’m always a massive critic, mate, that was a terrible performance and I’m always looking to grow, always looking to be best version of myself,” says Harry. Always the humble winner, Garide says he will be watching the game to see where he can improve and get better.
When DNA spoke with Harry for his feature in DNA #267, we got an idea of his tenacity and his commitment to the sport. He is as fierce a boxer as he is an ally to the LGBTQIA+ community and that strength and focus makes this win come as no surprise.
The match airs live on Fox Sport on Foxtel at 7pm and will also stream on Kayo.
