Jarod Keeble wins state and national boxing titles with tendon injury
MOOLOOLAH boxer Jarod Keeble’s dreams of a second national title was nearly over earlier this year after severing a tendon in his left hand. The 16-year-old picked up the injury when a piece of broken glass pierced his left pointer finger, damaging the tendon.
Jarod had been preparing since the start of the year for his light middleweight state title fight in September. And while he could have justifiably walked away from the sport to nurse the injury, he was adamant that was out of the question.
“Not fighting wasn’t an option because I’ve worked so hard for this so I just did the best I could,” he said. “It hurt to punch but I knew that I had to push through the pain.”
The junior national title holder said although it was difficult to train, his medical team helped him with his preparation. “My surgeon told me that to get through this fight I had to strap my hand in a certain way,” he said. “I’ve had to train through the pain as well but managed with the help of my physio.”
Jarod finished his junior amateur boxing career on a high, after winning the state and national titles for two consecutive years. “I was happy with my performance, it felt like all my hard work had paid off ,” he said. “The thing I love most about boxing is getting my hand raised at the end of a fight.”
Jarod will now take a well deserved break once he gets his hand operated on later this month. He plans to jump straight back into training when his hand is fully healed in the new year. Mooloolah Valley Boxing Club owner and Jarod’s father, Rob Keeble, said he was very proud of his son. “He’s put the work in and I expected it, I’m very proud of him to do it,” he said.
“It’s a big ask to win one let alone two national titles, especially when he had the hand injury and had to fight one handed.
“It’s been quite stressful training him the last few months.” Rob added that he mainly boxed with his right hand for both junior titles, despite usually leading with his left hand. “To prepare for the fight, we just worked on the right hand and general fitness,” he said.
“After three or four years I suppose you experience things and are able to push through adversity.
“He had to still box because it was his last junior title, he couldn’t miss out on that chance.” Jarod played football for a number of years, until his father, Rob finally let him start boxing when he was 12-years-old.
“He pestered me for years to do it,” Rob said. “I know how hard the sport is and unless you really want to do it you aren’t going to succeed in it, not everyone can keep up with it.