Justice Boxing’s Thor Burns and Steven Schenk won Victorian state titles at the Showdown at the Allies event in Bendigo. Photos: Supplied.
Two boxers trained at Justice Boxing in Echuca, Steven Schenk and Thor Burns, recently celebrated taking out Victorian state championships at the Showdown at the Allies event held in Bendigo.
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Schenk’s fight, in his home city, was one of the main events on the day, as the boxer competed for the light heavyweight title belt in the elite class, with the division topping out at 79.4 kg.
The elite class is akin to professional boxing, with fighters not wearing a singlet or head guard and fighting with fully professional rules.
Schenk faced Jawahd McCooda from Melbourne, dominating to win by unanimous decision over four three-minute rounds in a display that combined beauty with brutality.
At 22, Schenk adds the Victorian title, under the Victorian Amateur Boxing League, to his list of accolades, after he won a national championship at the Australian Amateur Boxing League national titles on the Gold Coast last year.
Steven Schenk is awarded the light heavyweight Victorian title belt.
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The locally trained fighter is showing significant promise, though trainers Kris Burns and Barry Quinlan, who also oversee Thor, want the Bendigo native to compete in 50 total bouts before turning professional, citing experience in different environments as critical.
Schenk is likely looking at a further two seasons in the amateur system, with an eye on fighting internationally this year also.
“You basically face every sort of situation that you're going to come up against, then when you turn pro you're ready for it, you've got the runs on the board, you're a reputable amateur, and instead of getting paid $500 for your first pro fight, you're getting $5000 to $10,000,” trainer Kris Burns said.
“You're getting a good promoter and manager that wants to look after you.”
Kris also witnessed son Thor, a native of Leitchville, win his bout in the junior division at the lightweight limit, which tops out at 59 kg.
Thor secured victory against fellow up-and-coming boxer Etten Cesari from Melbourne, also winning by unanimous decision.
Thor Burns awarded the lightweight Victorian title belt in the junior division.
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Despite being the stronger and more aggressive out of the pair in this fight, Thor was praised by dad Kris for being a very defensively responsible fighter when asked about his overall development.
“Thor is a very, very gifted athlete, so I suppose you don't worry like when he was little, you'd be a bit nervous that he’s going to get punched, but boxing is really not about being tough, it's about being smart, it's about being intelligent,” Kris said.
“It's the opposite to being tough and Thor's very, very intelligent, so you don't really have too much of a problem with Thor.
“If a fight gets a bit rough and tough, Thor's going to step off and go purely defensively, let them zing by, let them swing past, make a miss, and they soon die down once they start missing, and then he starts his boxing again.”
Thor and Schenk’s wins made it a proud day out for the Justice Boxing crew, with Kris also noting the unique nature of the Allies Hotel as a venue, being quite a different set-up to what the boys are usually used to, as the duo fought outdoors as opposed to the more familiar indoor hall or stadium setting.
Though being able to play a significant role in the wins is pleasing, Kris feels Justice Boxing has an expectation to help its fighters achieve such standards, believing the gym has been one of the most successful in country Australia, when considering the many Australian, Victorian, international, professional and amateur champions it has trained.
But he explained that it still takes two to tango when developing boxing talent.
“You've got to have the cattle, it's not all about being good coaches,” Kris said.
“Part of it is being able to identify good athletes, and we've been very fortunate over the years to have some very, very good athletes coming along.”
Schenk is very much another one of those strong athletes, and shortly after the Bendigo bout he faced Norman Brown on Sunday, March 22 at the Melbourne Pavilion, which was also the first time he fought against a left-hander.
Though Brown had knocked out each of his previous four opponents, all in the first round, Schenk was able to negate him with strong defensive boxing, comfortably winning the bout in what Burns labelled a “mismatch”.
