BORN in Swan Hill in 1975 Swan Hill Boxing Club founder and local farmer Daniel Uebergang as a boy had dreams of becoming a fighter.
After watching the movie The Karate Kid he became increasingly inspired by the main character, Daniel, and at the age of 13 he started taking a number of martial art classes.
In 1996 Daniel went on to have his first of two kickboxing fights, when he realised that boxing was more his “forte.”
Daniel remembers drawing great inspiration throughout his career and as a child from the late and great Muhammad Ali.
“Muhammad Ali spoke what he believed in — right or wrong it didn’t matter,” Daniel said.
“He was an exception to the rules of boxing — he was the people’s champion.
“On the day that he passed I had a few tears remembering all of those times as a child and as a boxer I spent imitating what he did – his Ali shuffle, and his one liners that would always get thrown around at the gym.”
Moving to Melbourne in 1998 to advance his boxing career, Daniel became a student at the Ringwood Boxing Club which was a prolific club in its time.
“I pretty much trained six days a week for three years,” Daniel said.
“In that time I won three Victorian titles, and a bronze in Tasmania for the Australian title in 2000.”
Winning his first title was one of Daniel’s fondest memories.
He won a total of four state titles in his time as a boxer, the last being in 2005 when he stepped back in the ring after a four year lay off. Daniel wanted to see if he still had it at the age of 30 and he retired after winning that fight.
“I was asked to go pro…but it didn’t interest me,” Daniel said.
“You would have to be in Melbourne for that.
“I didn’t want to go any further, instead I wanted to put it all into the kids (as a trainer).”
Daniel was asked to came home in 2001 to help on the family farm (sheep, cattle, cropping and irrigation) which he now owns and runs full-time.
At that time Daniel wanted to get back into boxing, although there was no club in town.
This inspired Daniel to take matters into his own hands and he started volunteering his time as a boxing trainer, running classes out of a local gym.
“I started taking classes two nights a week at the Karinie Street Shed,” he said.
“A kid by the name of Tyron Wood came in, and he was my first boxer.
“He ended up going all the way to the Australian title in 2005.”
In 2004 Daniel opened the Swan Hill Boxing Club behind the Leisure Centre which has produced a number of fighters, and has between 80-100 loyal students attend.
For more on this story pick up a copy of Wednesdays (August 3, 2016) Guardian
