Ken Gamble

It was Gympie, which is another town up the road, 30 minutes up the road.

And I joined the Golden City Boxing Club and I started going to boxing lessons every afternoon.

Mum would take me three or four times a week and I got into amateur boxing and that was a really great sport for me because it was a relief of my frustration.

I didn't like school.

I wanted to get out of school as soon as possible.

I ended up leaving in year 10.

My trainer, George Mills, he asked me if I want to start competing in tournaments and I said, absolutely, I'm ready for it, you know.

So...

That led to me winning the Queensland light middleweight title for under 17s.

And I got this gold medal and it was amazing.

And the town was, you know, very proud and there was newspaper stories and all this.

So then I wasn't selected for the Australian team because I hadn't had enough experience.

They said the only way I can go is if I raise the money myself and pay for myself.

So we had a fundraiser in Yamundi

We put it in the newspaper and we immediately raised $1,000, I think it was, for me to fly to Perth to fight in the Australian light middleweight championships.

And I subsequently went there in July.

I fought a guy called Craig Bushby, who was a very experienced fighter and he was the current Australian light middleweight champion.

And I was the real underdog, this kid from the bush that, you know, didn't have a lot of fights under my belt.

What are your memories of the actual fight?

Oh, I still remember it vividly.