BENDIGO'S Tully Scanlon has earned a sport on the Australian boxing team for the Youth Commonwealth Games after being crowned the Australian 52 kilogram youth champion.
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Scanlon defeated three opponents at the Australian Youth and Junior Boxing Championships in Adelaide to claim his second straight gold medal.
The Youth Commonwealth Games will be held in the Bahamas in July.
Scanlon will be the first Bendigo boxer to represent Australia since Lyndon Hosking and Justin Whitehead did at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur.
The 17-year-old defeated familar foe Ben Cameron Hands, from Queensland, in the final.
It was the pair's third career fight, with Scanlon beating the Queenslander in the national semi-finals two years ago and in the lead-up to last year's nationals.
Scanlon's trainer and a Victorian team coach Danniel Burton, from the Hit Factory boxing gym in Golden Square, said the two fighters were very evenly matched.
"Leading in to the nationals as coach I watch all the other states and see where and what they are doing," he said.
"Queensland and New South Wales had been busy travelling, they had been to England training with the national team there, they had brought a UK team to Queensland.
"Tully had none of that, we had relied on our Hit Factory team mates at the gym to push him, and he had not had another 52kg male to spar against going in to the nationals.
"I thought this would play a part but I knew that Tully was fit his athleticism and his ability to change any fight would help."
The final proved a nail-biter, with Scanlon earning the nod from the judges in a split decision.
Burton said Scanlon settled well in the first round and found his jab to score and was defending well not getting hit.
"The second-round, if Tully could settle straight back in his confidence would grow and he would be near impossible to beat," he said.
"Cameron-Hands come out swinging his corner knew that he had to rattle Tully early and not let him get comfortable and he did.
"The second round was tough back and forth punch for punch but towards the end of the round Cameron- Hands seemed to be tiring and one of Tully’s major assets is his fitness.
"The final round came down to endurance, Tully started getting on top, his work rate does not stop and in the third round his pressure was too much."
A tough week for Scanlon included a first round win over Northern Territory fighter Jaiden Frakking, in a bout which lasted just 30 seconds.
The Bendigo teenager's second round opponent was New South Welshman Bradley Collns, who Scanlon defeated on a Hosking Promotions show in Melbourne just two weeks before the nationals.
Burton said Scanlon would use the next few weeks to recover and catch up on some school work, before launching his preparation for the Youth Games.
Scanlon has now won two gold medals and one silver in three appearances at the nationals.
