Sutherland PCYC product Joshua Fitzpatrick has brought home a silver medal from the Youth Commonwealth Games last month.
The 17-year-old finished second in the 56-kilogram youth division and had to overcome a broken thumb suffered six weeks before competition. The injury left Fitzpatrick unable to spar until two weeks before the tournament.
Fitzpatrick won his first fight at the Sir Kendal G. L. Isaacs Gymnasium in the Bahamas capital of Nassau, easily beating Botswana’s African champion Treasure Moremi.
Fitzpatrick scored another dominant victory over tall Mauritian southpaw Jean Damien Hellene in the quarter-final before meeting European champion Colm Murphy in the semi-final, with Fitzpatrick earning a tight win over the Northern Irishman.
Fitzpatrick then met Shiloh Defreitas in the final with the Englishman awarded the victory, though Fitzpatrick’s camp were deeply disappointed with the decision.
The silver medal added to an already impressive year for Fitzpatrick, who took out his third Australian Amateur National Boxing title in Adelaide in April.
Sutherland PCYC coach Sean Fitzpatrick, Joshua’s father, said he was proud of his son’s achievement and what Sutherland PCYC had achieved on the world stage.
Fitzpatrick’s camp thanked Southside Boxing’s Ryan and Cherie Waters for accommodating Joshua throughout his Youth Commonwealth Games campaign. Ryan, who has had a glittering professional career, became Fitzpatrick’s mentor, taking the youngster under his wing to complete Fitzpatrick’s track work with early morning running sessions three times per week throughout winter.
Renowned coach Graham Shaw took over as Fitzpatrick’s technical coach while Jason Metters was his running coach. Fitzpatrick’s camp also thanked Sutherland PCYC academy coach Joel Keegan and strength and conditioning coaches Steve Goodman, Alex Jameson and Jakob Stynes along with his sponsor, Longwall Chain Australia.