Collins Employee – Athlete at Rio Olympics
WHEN work gets in the way of training for Rio-bound Sydney boxer Daniel Lewis he just gets on with the job — steelcap boots and all.
Lewis works in a quarry operating machinery from 6am to 5.30pm six days a week when he’s not away on training camp which makes it hard to find time to hit the pads or pound the pavement.
“When I’m preparing for a competition if I’m working I can’t really train at all,” Lewis said.
“I usually work all day and then crash out when I get home.
“Sometimes if I finish early I’ll do pads or something or go for a jog — or even at work if I have to go somewhere I’ll just jog there with the steelcaps (boots) on, I’ve done that plenty of times.”
His real training is done in camp at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra or when he’s overseas including the Philippines where he prepared for the Asia/Oceania Championships last month.
It was at those championships in China where the 22-year-old booked his ticket to Rio by winning a bronze medal in the 75kg division.
Lewis and his journey to the Olympic Games is like a chapter straight from the book on boxing’s school of hard knocks.
There’s his blue collar work ethic at the Spring Farm quarry, his lean and mean look complete with tattoos on both arms and his neck, his Twitter handle @dropbombslewis, and the setbacks he’s had to overcome just to stay in the game.
In 2011 he won gold at the Commonwealth Youth Games in the 64kg category and a year later looked a good chance to qualify for the London Olympics until he broke his jaw in a qualifying fight.
After almost a year out of the ring, Lewis got back in and in 2013 became national champion in the 69kg division at just 19 years old.
Then in 2014 at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games he won his first two fights as a 69kg competitor but wasn’t allowed to start his third bout after officials ruled a cut above his eye was too severe to continue.
“I wanted to turn pro after that and get out of the amateur game,” Lewis said.
“But my family, especially mum and dad convinced me to stay.
“After I broke my jaw in 2012 and was out for a year I stuck around. In my amateur career I’ve won state and national titles and won gold at the Commonwealth Youth Games and the Olympics is the last piece of the puzzle.
“Oh man this is a dream I’ve been working towards for years, I’ve committed so much of my life to it and I’m not going there for a tracksuit, I’m going for a medal.”
Lewis was born and raised in Sydney as the son of a boxer, Jason, who is also now his trainer.
He had his first fight at the age of 11, which he won by TKO, and says he was destined for a career in the sport.
“Dad used to fight and so did my big brother and I looked up to them,” Lewis said.
“So I’ve been around boxing my whole life and now it’s paid off I guess.”
But his main inspiration heading to Rio comes from being a father himself, to 18-month-old son Levi.
“I just think of how I used to look at my dad and think he was the greatest man alive, and I still do,” Lewis said.
“I want to give my son that same image of me and make all that time travelling away worthwhile.”
He says it’s the almost solitary existence of a boxer that draws him to the sport.
“You haven’t got a team like other sports, if you’re not feeling the best you can’t just ask someone else to do it for you,” Lewis said.
“It’s all about you and you bring that into the ring.”
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Photos: Brett Costello.