Lynden Hosking recaps ‘Battle on the Goldfields 2’ event

 
EMERGING Victorian promoter Lynden Hosking experienced the volatile nature of the sport on Saturday night.

 
Hosking’s fledgling promotional entity, Hosking Promotions, put together their third consecutive offering in regional Victoria in the form of ‘Battle on the Goldfields 2’, featuring eight professional fights.

 
The event was well attended and generated a large amount of community support and engagement.

 
However, boxing as a sport is unpredictable and the result of any given fight is never set in stone. This was highlighted with Hosking Promotions athletes Ibrahim Balla and Damien Lock both suffering knockout losses.

 
As the dust settles on a successful event, Hosking is clearly proud of what his company produced.

 
“It was a great night,” said Hosking in an interview with Aus-Boxing. “We had about 850 people in attendance and we had eight really good quality bouts. It was just great to see the city get right behind it,”

 
“The results of the two main events didn’t go our way, but hey, that’s boxing.”

 
“Having a fight of that magnitude of Balla versus Tabanao in a regional town was just fantastic. We were able to bring fighters from all different parts of the world and Australia into the regional city of Bendigo,”

 
“There has been a number of amateur shows in Bendigo in the past, but I found people weren’t aware of what to expect at this level,” he continued. “They were impressed to have top international boxing live in their town,”

 
“As we go on, I think it will continue to grow and grow. The feedback from all the people who attended was amazing. The crowd was larger than last time and I will be expecting next time it will be even bigger again.”

 
Hosking is looking to roll with the momentum that has been established by the previous three events put together by Hosking Promotions as he prepares for his looming promotional debut in Melbourne, set for August 13.

 
Despite having one eye on Melbourne, Hosking still has plans to continue promoting events in his hometown.

 
“We are hoping for another show by the years end. We are possibly looking at the end of November or maybe even early December. That will be ‘Battle on the Goldfields 3’, I certainly want to bring it back here,”

 
The biggest surprise of the night was Filipino livewire handing former Olympian Ibrahim Balla the first loss of his professional career. While Hosking admits the loss was unexpected, he doesn’t regret the step-up.

 
Given Balla’s age and relative inexperience as a professional, Hosking believes it is a learning experience.

 
“We didn’t really know a great deal about Tabanao when he came over he to be honest,” he admitted. “With Ibby we just wanted to look at stepping him up. It obviously didn’t go our way, as I said earlier that’s boxing.”

 
“But there are no regrets whatsoever, we wanted to step him up. He wanted better opportunities and wanted to have a shot at a regional title and at bigger fights. Unfortunately he didn’t get the win.”

 
“He has had ten fights and he is only 25 years old, he has plenty of time on his side. One loss doesn’t mean it’s all over. So he’ll get back on the horse – he will be back out there in August – he’ll reload and go again.”

 
“He was obviously very disappointed,” added Hosking.

 
“Like most fighters that have had a loss he feels like he may have let people down but that’s far from it. As a fighter, we know what these guys go through and what they sacrifice and I’m just so proud of him and his effort.”

 
“Unfortunately, there can be no fairytales in this sport and he came up short. He was up against the highest quality opponent he has been in with to date. I’m sure it will make him a better fighter.”

 
“I think he now has learnt the standard that he has to set – not just for him – but also for myself and his team. We now just need to go again. I make no apologises for putting him in with someone of that stature,”

 
“I don’t want to be giving my guys easy fights. Sometimes it doesn’t go our way. I’m not going to protect them and then they get exposed on the big stage, as it could end up being worse.”

 
An announcement is yet to be made about his August event, but Hosking has promised it will be worth watching.

 
“Our next show will be at Melbourne Park in August,” he concluded. “We could probably get about 1,200 people in there. It will feature the Ballla brothers as well as Shannon O’Connell, who will also be on the card,”

 
“We are finalising the main fights, but I can ensure you that it is going to be a massive card,”

 
“Follow the Hosking Promotions hashtag #makingithappen to stay up to date with our progress,”

 
 
Photo: Damian Brierty/Visual Delight