BLACK N Blue Boxing Gunnedah's Enja Priest is set to match it with some of the country's best at this weekend's Australian Amateur Boxing Championships.
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Competing in the 67-71 kilogram division, Priest will be taking on some of Australia's most acclaimed fighters.
Trained by David Syphers and Wade Ryan, Priest has devoted months of training to prepare for the weekend-long event.
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Original from Dubbo, Priest said her preparation had so far been "almost perfect".
"I'd have to say this has probably been one of the better preparations I've had in my career," Priest told the Leader.
"Wade and Spike [Syphers] have really been pushing me hard in training and have me feeling ready to go.
"Those guys have been awesome in helping me get ready, their support has been so good.
I'm in what would be around the middleweight category, but in amateur boxing we go by weight, so there will be a lot of good fighters and I need to be ready."
The 28-year-old said her team had been doing "a lot of work to stay sharp" during this weekend's annual competition.
"We have been doing a lot of strong sparring and interval training to be fit and ready to go," she said.
"Wade's motto for me has been to keep it simple and control my breathing.
"We have been doing a lot of work around controlling my breathing and in training we have been trying to recreate that fight atmosphere.
"Hopefully by doing that, I should be able to settle into my matches quickly and get some good results."
A trainer at Gunnedah Health and Fitness Co, Priest has previously competed at several NSW and trans-Tasman competitions.
However, this will her first Australian championships appearance.
"I'm really keen to see how I go this weekend," Priest said.
"I've been feeling really good in the lead up, so I'm pretty confident I can go a long way in the tournament.
"There will be a lot of good fighters in my weight class, but I'm confident all of the things we've been working on in training will stand up."
Billy Jupp
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
