FRANK Pianto has spent 20 earnest years developing and guiding the careers of dozens of central Victorian boxers.
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Now he’s preparing himself for arguably his biggest gig in boxing.
The just-turned 40-year-old has been selected by Boxing Australia to be an assistant support coach for next month’s AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships in Hungary.
The championships run from August 20-31 in Budapest and will see Pianto overseas from August 8 to September 3.
He is champing at the bit to get working with Australia’s best male and female and youth boxers, most of whom represented Australia at this year’s Youth Oceania Championships in Samoa.
“My role will be support the head coach and the other coaches in anything they might need,” he said.
“It’s a massive opportunity for me.
“I’ve been a part of the sport and coaching for at least 20 years and trained at state, national and international level boxers – I’ve put a lot of hard work and effort into it.
“In terms of boxing, it’s the biggest thing I have done.
“You have nearly every single country represented at these championships; it’s a massive learning opportunity for me to work with some of the best coaches and best amateur boxers in the world.”
The national role will come with the added opportunity to gain his AIBA star-two accreditation, which will happen in the week before the championships.
“We don’t have a lot of (AIBA) level-two coaches in the country; there’s only a handful,” Pianto said.
“I see a great opportunity for me to come back and share some of the knowledge.
“I have some pretty good talent coming through the gym and I want to give them the best opportunity I can to have them represent their country in the years ahead.”
Barely a weekend goes by when Pianto is not on the road to Melbourne or inter-state with one of his stable of boxers.