Urijah Harrington holds his two gold medals aloft at the Adelaide Club Championships.
It was a weekend of celebrations for the Shepparton boxing contingent at the Adelaide Club Championship – as three emerging stars including Izaiah and Urijah Harrington came away with medals.
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The siblings, who fight out of Goulburn Valley Boxing Academy, are the pride of the region after clinching gold at Tarndanya Country’s iconic Dom Polski Centre.
Flying the flag for country Victoria, the boys proved too much to handle for their respective opponents as they took South Australia by storm at the weekend.
With no-one in his 46kg division willing to take him on – Urijah defeated Zane Holmes to earn gold via a unanimous points decision at 48kg and James Washer at 50kg via a round two stoppage to earn the spoils a day later.
“He’s now a five-time Australian club champion winner,” dad and trainer Zedda Harrington said.
“We had high expectations and he won via a clear points decision (versus Holmes) and he should be really proud of his efforts.
“Saturday (versus Washer) was a flawless fight, first round was a little tentative and closer, but after that he really stepped it up – landing everything – it was beautiful boxing.”
Urijah Harrington (centre) stunned the championships with two wins in two days.
Coming up against the talent from Western Australia, the 15-year-old showed his tireless resolve, living up to his “Hellraiser” nickname with two victories in as many days.
Continuing the family tradition in style, younger brother Izaiah Harrington did the brood proud on his own date with destiny at the championships, dispatching of New South Wales’ Nate Doyle at 42kg.
Stepping up a staggering three weight classes from his usual 36kg, the 13-year-old was not fazed as he claimed a knockout victory via a second round stoppage against the Team Lantry Boxing national champion.
He landed three standing eight-counts, with one coming in the first round before two in the second as he put the seal on a milestone win before being named Best Boxer at the event by the Australian National Olympic head coach and committee.
Reflecting on a landmark weekend for his sons and the wider GVBA gym in Adelaide, Zedda was pleased as punch.
“I was umming and ahhing over (the fight with Doyle) as there’s weight classes for a reason,” he said.
“But Izaiah didn’t even think twice, he was like ‘yeah, let me have him’, so when a fighter has that much courage, I thought ‘let’s do it’.”
“Nate Doyle had his media with him during his walk-on and warm-up as he must’ve thought it was going to be a nice highlight reel, but we spoiled the party.”
Izaiah Harrington continued the family tradition in SA.
Also present at the championships was newly-appointed Victoria under-19 captain Kallym Huffer, with the Sheppartonian having fought his way through a field of six fighters to make the final against Owen Challen.
The 2026 King of the Ring champion settled for silver during the showpiece against his opponent from Western Australia, with the closest of split decisions denying him the ultimate prize this time around.
The 18-year-old went the distance in the bout, with his Perth-based adversary in the ring having been on the receiving end of two eight counts from the referee in what was a tight affair.
Looking back at the weekend, Huffer was pleased with his efforts as he vowed to take the positives from what will undoubtedly prove to be a formative experience in his burgeoning career.
He will head to the National Championships in about a month, where he will lead out Victoria’s under-19 team as skipper.
Kallym Huffer put in the perfect preparations for the nationals as Victoria captain.
“It was a really great experience with a lot of lessons learned leading into the nationals in July,” the pugilist said.
“I felt my adaptability in the final was better than in the semi-final, so it was a big improvement.
“It was a close fight and I was just unlucky to be on the other end of the decision, I felt I had round one and two.
“In the second round, I came out a lot stronger and was all over him, putting a really good eight-count on him, and in the third round I was a bit slower and that was probably the round that lost me the fight.
“I want to acknowledge the other Victorian boxers who were up there too, it was so good to see the team doing well leading up to the nationals.”
