A round with Brophy

THE pure excitement of 300 drunken fans baying for the sight of blood was enough to lure former Winton boxer Belinda Sevil back into the ring at the Birdsville races.

The former 2000 Australian light-heavyweight champ began her career in the legendary Fred Brophy tent.

Last weekend she didn’t need much convincing to take to the mat for another couple of bouts despite having officially retired from the sport.

"I just started doing a bit of boxing with my brother Shaun.

"The Brophy tent came to town and he said, ‘Why don’t you get up and have a go’, so I did.
"It is great to be able to put on a bit of a show and not just leave it to the boys."

While there were more than enough men willing to put their bodies through three rounds of hell with the likes of ‘White Lightening’ and ‘The Cowboy’ the aptly named ‘Blonde Bombshell’ was surprised few women were wanting to take to the ring.

"It is great to see a few women having a go especially when there aren’t too many who put their hand up.

"I expected to see more in Birdsville but I had to sit out the first round because no-one wanted to fight which was disappointing.
"Unfortunately in my first bout I went down to a woman from Roma. I wasn’t on form and she knew Tae Kwon Do.
"It was hard going up against a completely different style of fighting but great fun."