Fistful of success for Bay

Hervey Bay’s Craig Glover and his boxers, Casey Walters (from left), Charley Needles and Linda Casboult after their impressive trip to the Sunshine Coast.

KARLEILA THOMSEN

HERVEY Bay boxers proved to be a force to be reckoned with at the Caloundra RSL on Saturday night.

Linda Casboult and Casey Walters both won their bouts while the other member of the Street Smart Thai Boxing Centre in action, young Charley Needles, lost a close points decision.

Two of the fighters, Casboult and Walters, were having their first competitive bouts and they didn’t disappoint.

The 42-year-old Casboult, the mother of current Queensland Global Boxing bantamweight champion, 16-year-old Matthew, showed no signs of being nervous.

She won all three rounds against an opponent 16 years younger than herself.

Craig Glover, the coach of all three women, said Casboult had started the bout just like she finished it – hitting very hard.

“Linda had trained so hard for this fight and she gave her poor rival no quarter,” Glover said.

“She simply smashed her and there was no lack of blood I can tell you.

“It went very close to being stopped because of Linda’s non-stop assault.”

Walters, a kick-boxer, was using the Sunshine Coast tournament to work on her boxing skills and her opponent would probably say that she doesn’t need to after feeling the full-brunt of her punches.

So hard did Walters, a 26-year-old mother of two, hit her rival that she failed to come out for the third round.

Although 16-year-old Needles lost her bout, she gave a good account of herself against Australian champion, Kingaroy’s Angela Stone.

The Urangan State High School student lost by the narrowest of margins but she said she was pleased with the hit-out.

“It was my first bout since October so I was a bit ring rusty but I pushed her all the way so that was pleasing,” she said.

“She may have won this battle but the war is not over yet (the pair will fight for the Australian title next month).”

As for coach Glover, well, he was wrapped with the performances of all three of his charges.

“They all showed plenty of heart and they certainly did their part in putting Hervey Bay on the map for women’s boxing,” Glover said.

“I am really proud of them all and they should be proud to.”