FLEMING TO MAKE UP FOR LOST TIME

story courtesy BoxingTalk.com

Australia’s undefeated indigenous boxer Paul Fleming is on a mission to win his next three fights and set up the opportunity to capture a 130-pound title. After years of low activity (three fights since the start of 2019), Fleming's next step takes place in St. Marys, Sydney on March 15th when he faces undefeated Filipino challenger Charly Suarez. Fleming comes from the small town of Tully in outback northern Australia where he first started boxing at age 12 in 2001.

Fleming (29-0-1) finds himself carrying on the tradition of past Australian indigenous boxers such as Aboriginal boxing legend Lionel Rose who unified the world titles (1964-76), superstar rugby league players and champions of the boxing ring Tony Mundine and his son Anthony Mundine Jr., Dave Sands inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame as “the greatest boxers never to have won a world title”, 2005 world champion Robert Peden, Wally Carr, who competed in six divisions over a stellar fifteen-year career, and Daniel Geale who won two titles before losing to Gennady Golovkin at Madison Square in 2014.

While Fleming takes  confidence from his unbeaten streak, he accepts as “a matter of fact” that he has been ignored on the international stage. “By now I should have become a world champion. I see it as the way of the boxing world, and the cards didn’t fall my way. But I feel my destiny is in the winning circle, as the coming world champion.“

As for Suarez (14-0), Fleming says, “Suarez, like me, hasn’t been beaten. This is where our paths come together – here in Sydney – and I am ready.”

The left-handed Fleming said he won’t be underestimating Suarez, who is 34 years old and almost 4 inches shorter in size. “All my fights have been about fighting with a winning strategy,” he asserts. “If Suarez comes at me I have a counter punching strategy, and if he stays away then I will come at him.”

Fleming has spent several months sparring with top Aussies, including the Maloney brothers. “Neither of us held back while sparring.” he said after some competitive rounds with Andrew Moloney.

But Fleming knows that the window is closing for him to win a world title. "What’s been so good for me in boxing is that I have not been beaten, not once. I haven’t been bashed, and I have gained a lot of experience. I’ve fought against the best in Australia and now it’s time to break out and take on the best in the world... after this the world title will be one big step closer.”