Wagga boxers Regarn Simbwa and Bashir Nasir have headed to Queensland to represent their adopted city at the prestigious National Golden Gloves tournament in Brisbane this weekend.
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The amateur boxing event has been a target all year for the former Uganda Commonwealth Games representatives, since they settled in Wagga and returned to the sport at Barefoot Boxing.
Simbwa, who won the NSW King of the Ring heavyweight title earlier this year, is pleased with his preparation.
He won a warm-up fight in Sydney two weeks ago, but expects he'll need to be at his best for the Brisbane bouts.
"I've heard they are going to be good boxers. Some of them have been competing at national level, and the Golden Gloves is a big tournament," Simbwa said.
"The King of the Ring and the Golden Gloves are big tournaments."
Nasir, at 60kg, will fight in the lightweight division.
He's coming off a loss in Sydney at a warm-up bout but was fighting at a higher weight and was disadvantaged by his opponent's height and reach.
Nasir has been working on his speed in the ring and says he's ready to deliver.
"I'm ready. I'm fit and I'm ready to fight," Nasir said.
"I need to win. I want the Golden Gloves and I want to bring it back to Wagga Wagga."
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