BATHURST'S Joel Noonan has become the city's latest sportsperson to add a national title to his name after scoring victory at the recent Monaro Fight Circuit 30 event in Canberra.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Noonan is the new Martial Arts Sports Association (MASA) Australian K1 Pro-Australia title holder in the 76.5kg division courtesy of a second round victory over Ben Reid.
The win adds to a state title which Noonan won just a few months ago.
Noonan, representing 3BS Bathurst BackYard Boxing, was giving up plenty of experience to his opponent on the Canberra canvas but the Bathurst fighter was up for the challenge.
Reid came out fired up in the first round but Noonan's jabs continued to keep his opponent on the back foot.
At the start of the second round Noonan saw the chance to soften up Reid in the legs and his blows were having a strong effect.
Noonan brought down his opponent once in the second round before another fall from Reid saw the fight brought to a close.
Noonan said he had unfinished business in the nation's capital.
Keep up to date with the latest sports news by clicking here.
"I'd lost in a split decision there in February so it was good to get back down to Canberra and get the win," he said.
"Ben Reid's had a ridiculous number of fights, 73 of them. He's the current South Pacific champion and was coming off two big title fights, so he's a big name.
"He came out firing with low kicks. I checked one of them really good and I was able to set up my jabs. That's been one of my strong points and that was working for me from the first round.
"I didn't notice at first that I'd hurt him a bit in the legs and then two in a half minutes I saw him twinge just a bit and that was enough."
Noonan wasn't able to go for broke at Reid's shins, knowing that he had to look after his own in the process.
"I really had to choose my shots because my shins were getting chopped up. It's like kicking into the corner of a wall," he said.
"I dropped him three times because his legs were getting bad.
"I didn't expect it to finish that early considering all the training that goes into it. I'd been putting in two to two and a half hours of training a day for six days a week."
There's still busy times ahead for Noonan as he seeks to take another organisation's belt.
He is slated to take part in next week's World Association of Kickboxing Australia (WAKO) Eight Man Elimination event in Darwin.
There he will have to win three straight fights in order to claim the organisation's national title belt and the $5,000 prize which comes with it.