Josh McCulloch’s bedroom trophy cabinet has become considerably more congested the past year – the new arrivals mini-monuments to a pursuit starkly different to his previous sporting loves.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Unless he gets a bigger cabinet, it is easy image the tennis, cricket and basketball gongs being elbowed out of the way by his new all-consuming passion – muay thai.
The 17-year-old Tamworth fighter has undergone a metamorphosis since he began training for his first fight, which took place in May last year.
Nurtured in a “family” atmosphere at Chaffeys Black Belt Academy, the Year 11 Tamworth High School student this month won his first senior belt.
The interstate Fight for Autism belt was claimed via a unanimous points victory over Darwin’s Robert Nguyen at Toukley.
It sits on the trophy cabinet next to the junior Fight for Autism title he won in October.
“I look at them [the muay thai trophies/belts] especially when I wake up every morning,” he said.
“Far out, it’s only been just over a year since I started fighting and I’ve already got eight trophies. It’s pretty cool.”
McCulloch’s next fight is in February.
It will be a first for him on two fronts: his first interstate bout and his first bout using full Thai rules – meaning elbows are allowed.
In another first, he heads to Thailand in June for a two-week training camp with his head trainer, Scott Chaffey.
“They’re [the Chaffeys] basically my second family,” he said.
McCulloch’s record is five wins, two losses and one draw.