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WHEN Tully Scanlon first walked through the doors of the Golden Square-based Hit factory boxing gym, he never expected it to lead to a national championship.
The promising junior footballer with Golden Square was looking for a bit of added fitness, so alongside a few Bulldogs teammates he decided to start training under boxing coach Danniel Burton.
Fast forward two-and-a-half years and Scanlon is now the reigning Australian junior 54 kilogram champion.
The now 16-year-old defeated tough Queenslander Theo Rayfield by technical knockout on the Gold Coast earlier this month.
"When I first came to gym, it (winning a championship) never crossed my mind," he said.
"I had my first fight, it turned out I was half decent at it, so I kept continuing on.
"You hear of other kids winning titles, but I never thought it would be me."
The championship win, which followed a tough semi-final victory against a much-taller New South Wales boxer Jarrad El Hassan, took Scanlon's record to 10 wins and five losses.
He continues to battle to find suitable fights in Victoria and as a consequence has fought interstate on nine occasions.
Scanlon has set its sights on making the Australian junior team, with a view to fighting overseas.
Burton is confident his protege has the potential to make good on that aim, but both boxer and trainer know there is still a lot of hard work to be done.
One thing Scanlon is more certain of his whether his future in the sport remained in the amateur or professional ranks.
"No ... pro is probably not for me," he said.
Scanlon is continuing to train five nights a week at Hit Factory, with one night each week devoted to his football training at My Jet Oval.
"I'm still playing football, but I prefer the boxing," he said.
"It's more rewarding."
The teenager said there was plenty of people worth thanking for his ascension to national title holder.
"The only reason I have been able to do this is because of my coach Danniel Burton, my family and friends, (and) mum and dad for the long hours to and from training and getting me down to Melbourne and interstate," he said.