Two fights, two days, two victories.
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That was how Elodie Minhinnick spent her birthday weekend earlier this month as she achieved a long-sought dream.
The Orange boxer competed at the Golden Gloves tournament in Cairns but faced a hurdle the moment she arrived.
Minhinnick usually competes in the 54kg division, but with no opponents, she was forced to move up a class.
![Boxer Elodie Minhinnick fought two times in two days to be crowned the Golden Gloves champion for 2023. Picture by Carla Freedman Boxer Elodie Minhinnick fought two times in two days to be crowned the Golden Gloves champion for 2023. Picture by Carla Freedman](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/YN4FA67iw2pXwXjwm2vmnJ/7687b785-8106-4a85-aca7-6f645a6be79f.JPG/r0_1082_7632_5504_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"There's not a lot of girls my weight, so it's a bit harder to match up. It's not the first time that I've had to go up a weight either," she said.
"I was just happy because I had the opportunity to do a proper tournament."
With three fighters contesting the 57kg division, it meant that if Minhinnick wanted to come away as tournament champion, she would have to fight and win twice in less than 24 hours.
This task was made even harder by the fact her first match on August 5 was late on the card; a four-round contest at 9pm with the second bout taking place before midday on August 6.
"It was definitely challenging, I've never experienced that before," she said.
"It's hard to sleep after a fight and you're still a bit sore from the first one.
"Then you have to go back in and give it your all, so it was a lot of mental work, more than any other time. I was grateful for the experience and knew no matter what, it would be great to be able to do that."
After winning the first fight, Minhinnick managed to get about four hours sleep that night.
The one bonus of fighting on back-to-back days was the nerves had disappeared by the time she stepped in the ring the second time.
![Elodie Minhinnick shows off the medal she won in Cairns. Picture by Carla Freedman Elodie Minhinnick shows off the medal she won in Cairns. Picture by Carla Freedman](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/YN4FA67iw2pXwXjwm2vmnJ/694df4df-1912-41fc-b634-de05210787d3.JPG/r0_697_8256_5357_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"I was tired and you just want to focus and get it done," she added.
Minhinnick won the fight against Townsville's Merwez Jia-Whaleboat by unanimous decision to be crowned the featherweight Golden Gloves champion for 2023.
"It was one of my dreams when I first started boxing, to participate in a Golden Gloves tournament," the newly crowned champion said.
"The fact that I competed over two days was great, I couldn't be happier."
But her work isn't done just yet.
On August 19, she and her team from Littlefield's Boxing will travel to Sydney where she will represent NSW in a State of Origin clash against QLD.
"Another fight and another experience. Any fight is good to take," she said.
"I never thought I'd have all this opportunity at this stage of my life."
With a career record of ten wins and four losses, should all go to plan, Minhinnick's hope is to finish off the year by challenging for an Australian title right here in Orange.
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