AS a multiple world champion and trainer Nick Trask knows plenty about Muay Thai, so when he takes interest in a fighter it's a strong endorsement.
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It's even more special when one of those fighters is just seven years old like Bathurst's Eli Burke.
While Burke is no stranger to success in ring since he got involved in martial arts two years ago, when he headed to Brisbane for the SIAM Junior Muay Thai Show earlier this month it was to make his debut in that discipline.
It was his prior reputation that saw him score an invite from the promoter, but what Burke did in the three rounds of 90 seconds at Beenleigh PCYC to win on debut earned him even more praise.
"We had some awesome feedback. We had the current world champion Nick Trask come and get a photo with Eli and he actually put it up on his Facebook page and showed a lot of interest in Eli, which was pretty cool," Eli's father Tim Burke said.
"So he caught a lot of people's eye up there, the show is one of the biggest in Australia for kids fighting. Eli has always had a lot of interest from people, people from other clubs throughout Australia are always commenting on his skill and ability.
"But to get recognised at this by a multi-world champion and a lot of other clubs ... they've asked him to come back next year too and have as many fights in Queensland as he wants, yeah that's great."
While he had a strong background in karate, the Bathurst youngster had no Muay Thai experience prior to the Brisbane fight.
Instead he worked hard with his father and his trainers from 3Bs - Bathurst BackYard Boxing to learn the new techniques of clinching, sweeping and kneeing.
"Other kids train for it every day, but Eli only had six weeks to learn how to clinch and knee properly and what-not and he wasn't able to train with any kids for it. He only trained with me and his trainers Tony Brazier and Joel Noonan from 3Bs Boxing," Tim Burke explained.
"Tony has been training fighters for 30 years and they have a great bond and connection. Elias' passion for the art of martial arts makes for easy training as he listens and learns so quickly."
Burke was matched against a more experienced fight from Brisbane's Modern Warrior Muay Thai in the 22-24 kilograms no head contact division.
He won all three of his rounds to be declared the victor.
"I was very nervous for him going into the fight, I think I was a lot more nervous than Eli just because there are not many kids in this area who do Muay Thai and he had only trained specifically for Muay Thai for about six weeks," Tim Burke said.
"So he was pretty much just sparring and training with us. But everything he did in the fight was to a T, he executed everything.
"He fought against a kid from Queensland who had had a couple of fights, but Eli won quite easily, quite convincingly. He won all rounds convincingly, taking his opponent down numerous times in the clinch and sweeping. He was very humble towards his opponent."
