DANA Coolwell is gearing up for a title fight on October 7 in Mooloolaba, following his unanimous win against Manuer Matet.
The Hinterland Boxing Club’s Tyler Blizzard and Dana fought at the Fortitude Music Hall on July 15 with both walking away winners.
Blizzard won by TKO against Shamal Anuj in the fifth round.
Dana said the fight was a challenge, not least because of the late change after Olympian Luke Boyd was a late withdrawal.
“It was quite the change because my original opponent was shorter than me and completely different fight style, but it’s part of the sport and I made the right adjustments to get the job done,” he said.
“At the start I was mixing between being the aggressor with a solid jab and putting him on the back foot but as the fight went on my corner told me to box long as that’s where I was strongest.
“I went back to boxing and longer punching to finish the fight strong and win the back end convincingly.”
coach Steve Pitt said both Dana and Tyler’s opponents were awkward boxers, however both showed class to win their respective bouts.
“It was a more awkward opponent than what we had originally trained for, but Dana did quite well, he asserted his authority on the outset and controlled the fight, used his jab well, he was just unreal, he looked so slick and composed,” Steve said.
“Dana was just too classy and clever for his opponent and just put on a really good show especially because it was on international TV, so it was good to be broadcast all over the world.
“Tyler had an awkward opponent too; it was good he didn’t let his opponent go the distance because he has before with the likes of Sam Goodman who is now fighting for a world title.
“[Shamal] was quite durable and had a lot of power, he was dangerous so we couldn’t rush anything, once Tyler settled down and built the rounds in and working the rounds, he looked quite good.”
This was Tyler’s first full length preparation for a fight since he started coaching with Steve early this year, and Pitt said he was very happy with his progression so far.
“I’m really happy with him, he had an awkward opponent and we couldn’t get off early enough to find the range, there was quite a few challenges on the way but it made his performance that much more sweet,” Steve said.
“He stayed on the grind, all his family from Tasmania were up, he was on TV and there was quite a lot of pressure, he wanted to look good.
“To stay composed with all that pressure, it was a big move in the right direction and I think now we can really start to develop him.”
Dana’s upcoming fight for the International Boxing Federation Pan Pacific Featherweight title, will be against an international opponent, with Liam Pope and Tyler Blizzard both fighting for titles too.
