Anna Harrington / AAP News
Image: Alex Pantling/Getty Images
The Light Welterweight made light work of his opening round bout at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Billy Polkinghorn has knocked out his first opponent inside 30 seconds to rush into the light welterweight round of 16 and give Australia’s boxers the perfect start to their Birmingham campaign.
The 25-year-old cruised past the Seychelles’ Fabio Taryll Liam Roselie courtesy of a crunching right-handed blow just 27 seconds into the fight at the NEC.
In front of his vocal Australian teammates, Polkinhorn dodged an early swing from Roselie then unleashed a flurry of punches, followed by the fierce right-hander that caught his opponent flush on the nose and cheek.
The fight was officially stopped after 34 seconds, handing Polkinghorn a round-of-16 clash with Uganda’s Joshua Tukamuhebwa.
“I searched him (Roselie) on YouTube and I saw he likes to flick out that lead hand, get a bit lazy,” Polkinghorn told AAP.
“So I really thought I’d try and capitalise, coming over the top with a big, strong right hand and we caught him early on and just followed it up again and the ref waved it off.”
Polkinghorn is attempting to follow Harry Garside, who triumphed on the Gold Coast, in claiming a Games gold.
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“It’s just one fight at a time. Four more to go for the gold,” he said.
“I think anything less than the gold is a holiday. I’m putting a lot of pressure on myself, but that’s OK.
“I’ve always been the No.2 to Harry Garside, me and him have had great fights before.
“So now he’s turned pro it’s my time to shine and my time to represent Australia at a Comm Games.
“He won it last time and hopefully I can win it this time.”
Standing in Polkinghorn’s way on Sunday is 22-year-old Tukamuhebwa, who beat Northern Ireland’s John Paul Hale 3-2 on points.
“I’d never seen Joshua before but he looked like a strong southpaw, so I’m looking forward to that,” Polkinghorn said.
“He likes to let his hands go and so do I, so hopefully it will be a decent fight.”
