Mace aces pro fight debut

Gunnedah-based Mace Eveleigh began his professional boxing career in style last Saturday night as he won his maiden bout.

In front of a packed crowd at the Tamworth Regional Entertainment and Conference Centre (TRECC), Eveleigh was declared the victor after sparring with the Queensland-based Lochlan McGrotty in four three-minute rounds.

In the second-last contest at the RISE Future Stars boxing event which featured 26 bouts – eight preliminaries and 18 on the main card – Eveleigh won in a majority decision after two judges ruled in his favour while the other judge called it a draw.

“I’m still on cloud nine,” Eveleigh said two days after his triumph.

“I’m struggling to sleep at night. It’s awesome.

“It’s a long-time dream finally come true.

“A lot of work, a lot of hours, dedication, lows, highs. It’s surreal.”

The 21-year-old Eveleigh said last Saturday’s bout was “just one stepping stone” while he hoped to have a long and fruitful career as a professional boxer.

While it was Eveleigh’s first professional fight following nearly 30 amateur bouts, McGrotty had had professional fighting experience in Muay Thai rather than boxing.

With the two featherweight boxers consequently in their first professional boxing bout, neither was able to knock the other one to the canvas.

Eveleigh later said McGrotty came close to hitting the deck a couple of times while looking tired in the latter part of the bout, although “he came back pretty strong; he got me with a few good ones”.

Eveleigh said he felt he was “fairly in control” for most of the bout although his opponent may have had the edge in round two.

“The boxing experience I had compared with him was really the game changer,” Eveleigh said.

“Being able to move around the ring and control that pace was the determining factor I think.”

Eveleigh said his game plan was “keeping it pretty tidy and straight down the middle” while he felt he beat McGrotty to the punch through the middle which set up shots around the side.

Eveleigh said he needed to “stay in the boxing zone” and “didn’t want to get too caught up in the brawl side of things”.

The victor said his opponent was dangerous the whole time, strong and capable, and carried a lot of power while also being very determined to win.

“From what I gather, his main plan was to come forward and throw hands,” Eveleigh said.

“He wanted to turn it into a bit of a brawl, more or less.”

As for the lead-up, Eveleigh said he was “all over the place” with a range of emotions from excitement to nervous to “just can’t wait”.

“All things considered I’m happy with my performance,” he said.

“I know there were imperfections as there will always be.

“You can always go up, and it’s good to be able to reflect on that and grow from it.”

The victor also gave credit to his opponent, with Eveleigh saying McGrotty “showed heart and grit, and was gracious in defeat”.

“I have a lot of respect for him and his team,” Eveleigh said.

“He’s a very mature young man.”

Eveleigh’s next bout is likely to be in Gunnedah in October or November, although nothing has been organised yet.

Next for Eveleigh is a holiday in Bali, which will be his first time overseas.