Yass local to take on Paul Winston for WBF Masters Australian title

This weekend, the Yass local will take part in the biggest fight of his amateur boxing career: a Masters WBF Australian title fight against Paul Winston.

To say that Spider is taking this fight seriously is an understatement. Though normally jovial and friendly, he has taken to his preparation with an intent which few can muster.

This was evidenced by the fact that he recently traveled to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in order to train with Master Jorge Daniel, who is a fifth dan in kickboxing and a blackbelt in Muay Thai.

While it might seem strange at first to seek out a kickboxing expert for boxing advice, Spider said that the month he spent in Master Daniel's gym has given him a whole new side to his fight game.

This will be a significant advantage, as Spider and Winston have fought once before for a King of the Ring title, which the former won in a close bout.

But Spider knows that Winston is "a real tough competitor", and will not take his last win for granted.

"He doesn't go backwards, and last time when we fought I actually had a lot of injuries so I had to change my style a lot.

"But this time around, things might be a little bit different."

Though the fight itself will likely play out in a different pattern to their first, in many ways it is a homecoming story for Spider.

The bout will feature two Wollongong fighters, for one, as it is both Spider's and Winston's hometown. The pair have actually known each other for roughly 25 years, since Winston trained kickboxing and Spider boxing at the same gym.

The most eerie connection between the two actually goes back even further.

As children, they grew up around the corner from one another, but never met and didn't find out about this serendipitous connection until recently.

"We've got a mate who we both know, and he actually told me that all three of us grew up maybe a two or three minute walk away from each other," Spider said.

Although the pair will face each other down inside the ring before long, Spider credited Winston as a big part of the reason he got into Masters boxing.

"I went to a show in Wollongong and saw him fighting," Spider said.

"I didn't know there was a Masters division, so I started asking around and another mate of mine, who's fighting on Saturday as well, I ended up seeing that he won a Queensland title.

"So I saw the two older guys getting stuck into it, and that was the impetus for me to get out there and start doing it as well."

The WBF 75kg Masters title fight will take place this Saturday, June 8, at the Caloundra RSL. The card is promoted by Kim Gray.