Games' hope a chip off the old block

BY TOBY ROBSON

When Angus Donaldson was 12 years old he used to get hidings from his twin sister, Louise.

Imagine then the terror at the prospect of heading to New Plymouth Boys' High School where his older brother Fraser had not held back in relaying the Darwinian nature of a New Zealand boarding school.

With an All Black for a dad and just 34kg dripping wet, the youngest of five took preparatory steps and headed to the boxing ring.

"With three older sisters I would say most of my toughest bouts were against them, to be honest, in my early days," New Zealand's reigning lightweight (60kg) boxing champion laughed this week.

"Dad was an old boy of New Plymouth Boys' High and so was my brother and I was next in line to go. Dad sort of thought it would be good if I toughened up a bit."

The father of the Donaldson boys was of course legendary Manawatu and All Blacks halfback Mark, a bit of a scrapper in his playing days and well known publican in Palmerston North.

His second son, Angus, was a budding rugby player too, competitive and skilful, but battling in a comparative land of giants.

Billy Meehan was a respected boxing figure in Manawatu and as the two fathers stood on the sideline at an age grade rugby trial, the seeds of a great partnership and a soon-to-be-burgeoning career were sewn.

"Dad just said: `Do you want to do something with Angus?' and he said he didn't have a gym. Dad said it didn't matter, `just get in there and show him a thing or two' and it just snowballed from there."

In fact it's become more like an avalanche and a decade later the Meehan-Donaldson, coach-pupil relationship is peaking ahead of next month's Commonwealth Games.

Somewhat ironically a third Donaldson boy never made it to New Plymouth Boys', so taken by the empowerment, technicality and competitiveness of his new craft that he's been in Palmy ever since.

"Yeah, I stayed and went to Palmerston North Boys' High instead because I wanted to carry on with my fighting. It was really good for me because I fought guys my own stature and weight, it was a more even contest [than rugby].

"I held my own and it helped with my rugby training because I was always so fit.

"And I think for Dad it was good to just get away from rugby a bit and see a different side to sport. Especially as the training in boxing was so rigorous and tough, I think he was impressed I could get in and do it. He never had a go in the boxing ring, but I know he was a bit notorious for his out-of-the-ring antics."

Meehan, Boxing New Zealand's national coach, knew he'd uncovered a talent the first time he put Donaldson in a ring.

"He was like a duck to water, just into it. That first year he had about four bouts and won them all, so we decided to take him to the national championships and he won a New Zealand junior title as a 12-year-old.

"He's a little giant I suppose you would say. He always had a lot of potential and at an early age any challenges we put him into he would adapt to and take on.

"Early in his career, when he was only 15 odd, he was fighting some good names and having a go at the toughest ones coming through. He could mix it with anyone, he was a tough kid."

But as an adult, Meehan says Donaldson's greatest strength lies in his top two inches.

"He's a very technical boxer. He's a smart kid, no doubt, but he has the old man's toughness about him. People look at him and think they will walk straight through him, but he answers the questions. He's deceivingly strong as well as he is clever."

In fact Donaldson, now 23, is in the final year of a degree at Massey University in excercise science and one day hopes to become a teacher.

That's meant a bit of a juggling act in the past few years as study, training, bouts and personal life have tested his time management.

He believes the Commonwealth Games and its rigid preparation including dedicated national squad training camps has catapulted him to a new level and the capability to win a medal in Delhi.

"In an ideal world it would be good if we could do this all the time, six weeks out from a big tournament," he said during this week's national squad training camp in Hamilton.

"We only get a week or two normally before an event, so its just the total package really.

"Billy is really putting a lot of work into us. The good thing about being selected for the Games is you can just concentrate on the job at hand and getting in the best shape possible and focus up."

Another big plus in recent weeks has been regular competition for a fighter who has spent too much of the past two years fighting his punching bag rather than live opponents, restricted like many Kiwi boxers by the country's isolation from Europe and America.

"It's something I've got used to. I get some really good sparring with the guys in the gym, but it only takes you so far. It's like training for rugby, but never getting to play an actual game. It's a helluva lot different and especially in the boxing ring you just have that other gear and the intensity just lifts."

Last weekend he beat Games team-mate and New Zealand light-welterweight Anthony Taylor on points. A week earlier he beat Aung Sander in Auckland and at the Oceania Games in August he had two wins before losing 3-0 in the final to Australian Luke Jackson, a bronze medallist in Melbourne in 2006 and one of the favourites for the gold medal in India.

A big plus for Donaldson in Delhi is the computer points scoring system, one he believes leans toward the more technical and savvy fighters.

"There is almost a new style of fighting coming through now, which is very hands up and it's a lot harder to score a point. A lot of guys are very good at covering their face and bodies with their hands and arms.

"The way you get a point is to score a punch flush and clean, with no deflection or impairment with the hands, so they are really stressing that point.

"Even if you throw a really big punch and it just clips, or hits a glove, then you don't score.

"We are finding it's a lot harder to score points and a lot easier to defend in some respects. The fights are being scored really low because you have to work so hard to get points, which is almost good because it makes it quite a consistent scoring system. You know when you score a point and you know how hard it is to score a punch.

"You work more on defence, but you also need ringcraft a lot more, trying to work your opponent out. It helps me out a lot."

A random draw will be crucial in Delhi, but Donaldson says he is ready for anyone from the opening bell and has never felt so confident.

He will take that mood into this month's nationals where he hopes to cap off the perfect buildup by defending his lightweight title.

"The only real concern I guess is getting tipped over, but as far as we are concerned if we get tipped over at our national championships, we shouldn't be going to the Games.

"It's risky I suppose in a way, but by the time that comes we will be in so good a knick we will be ripping anybody's head off. We'll be carving up.

"It's not just about us going over as a participant. It's really excelling and making something of it and taking the opportunity. We've got a job to do, so as far as everything else, security risks or whatever, we just have to soak up the occasion.

"I'm going over to win a medal, no two ways about it. If I don't get a medal I'll feel like I let myself down, but I'll certainly give my best.

"That's the attitude here, bust ass and get the fruits of your labour when it comes off."

At A Glance

Angus Donaldson
Age: 23
Born: Palmerston North
Educated: Palmerston North Boys' High School
Family: Youngest of five (one brother, three sisters)
Division: Lightweight (60kg)
Coach: Billy Meehan
Career notes: First national title at 12 years old; three-time reigning national lightweight champion; Commonwealth Games team 2010

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