After leaving the ring following his split decision victory at the Gunnedah Town Hall last year, Albert Nolan knew he needed to make improvements on his boxing skills.

Fast forward a year later and Nolan made the right adjustments to walk away with a dominant unanimous decision victory at the same venue against a tough Chris Oliver.

Speaking to the Gunnedah Times after the victory, Nolan said he was pleased with the performance and his ability to showcase the skills learnt in training.

“I think I won convincingly through my boxing skills and although it got messy in the fourth round when I tried to brawl with him, I went back to my basic boxing and got the victory,” Nolan said.

The judges agreed with Nolan’s assessment, scoring the bout 40-36 on each of the three scorecards. It was a major development and turnaround from his fight with Lee Fook in April last year where Nolan narrowly escaped defeat.

Fitness was one of the major issues faced by Nolan and an area of focus in the last 11 months between fights. Working alongside stablemate Wade Ryan and Enja Prest with David (Spike) Syphers, it wasn’t just about honing in on his punching, it was about becoming a complete fighter.

“I feel like I could have went another two rounds,” Nolan said.

“It was good to go into the later rounds and go the distance, I’m happy with how it ended and I did what I needed to do to win.

“Last time out, I had a bad prep. I wasn’t training properly and I had a massive fitness issue.

“My mindset has changed, my head’s a lot clearer, I’m more focused and I’m wanting to compete.”

Throughout the four rounds, Nolan didn’t just find his shots with ease, there was plenty of power behind each punch. It surprised Nolan that he wasn’t able to knock Oliver down throughout the fight.

“He just somehow kept his legs under him so I have to give credit to him, he earned my respect, he came to fight,” Nolan said.

Having improved his record to 3-0, Nolan has his sights on following in the footsteps of Ryan and Prest who have both achieved NSW state titles, with Prest’s coming on Saturday night.

“I’m looking for those bigger fights with more rounds and hopefully it brings a title fight in the future,” Nolan said.

“In the meantime I’m just going to work on a few things, a lot more footwork and a bit more power to start looking for a knockout.”

With only one fight last year, Syphers is hoping for Nolan to fight at least two more times in 2022 as the pair continue to work at the Black N Blue gym.

“It’s looking like June 11 maybe for Albert’s next fight,” Syphers said.

“It’ll be a six-round fight next time I reckon but it will be at his natural division of super-featherweight.

“We’re just taking it one fight at a time but it would be nice to build up his record by the end of the year.”

After cornering Nolan on Saturday, Syphers was pleased to see the change in focus.

“He has been working a lot harder,” Syphers said.

“This fight he was more prepared mentally and he was getting his distance and combinations right.

“He has great skills and he showed that on Saturday.”

Nolan will not turn his attention to his potential fight in June as he continues to work with Syphers.

While there is no organised plan, the aim is for a shot at the NSW title if it is available by the end of the year. It would give Nolan the opportunity to fight on bigger shows with the potential to land a spot on a No Limit card.

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