Fry hits back hard

Fry went down via split decision against a more mature aged and experienced opponent, but made sure there was no doubt surrounding the winner of her next bout with a dominant performance.

‘‘Ellie really suffered leading up to that due to coming back from a big break and what I put down to a poor weight cut,’’ coach Zedda Harrington said of the loss.

‘‘But it was a lesson learnt and shouldn’t happen again.’’

Fry was circumspect in the first round at East Burwood’s Whitehorse Club against Williamson, feeling out her traditionally aggressive opponent but still boxing her way to a clear round win on all cards.

Harrington then urged Fry to up the ante and his charge delivered, putting a standing eight-count on her opponent in the second round and twice more in the third to force the referee to call off the fight.

While Harrington was happy with Fry’s showing, there are certainly bigger challenges on the horizon, with the nationals looming in June.

‘‘I rated her performance a B and we have three months to work on bettering that,’’ he said.

Williamson was the 64kg youth champion, but Fry will fight at 60kg (lightweight) at the nationals.

Although, by last year’s rules, Fry is still a youth-aged boxer, a recent change means she has missed her chance to compete at the youth titles and will fight as an elite-aged boxer, making her the youngest and likely least-experienced competitor at the event.

‘‘The girls in Ellie’s bracket are very tidy boxers with valuable experience, representing their states previously and some having international experience,’’ Harrington said.

‘‘Amateur boxing works in cycles, Ellie will be better having the tournament under her belt.

‘‘We’re big underdogs but will be coming with everything and have nothing to lose and everything to gain.’’

Some of the talent Fry will face at her first national tournament representing Victoria includes two-time national champion Ella Boot from Queensland and 2018 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Anja Stridesman from NSW.