Jason Mallia faces a nervous few weeks as he waits to hear whether he has made the Australian boxing team for the Commonwealth Games.
The Altona Meadows athlete was one of 13 boxers to win their events at the national championships in Perth earlier this month, with selectors to choose 11 of those boxers to go to Glasgow.
“I’m really confident that I performed well enough at the national championships [to be selected],” Mallia, 19, said. “I went into the event positive and confident I could win. My last fight was the toughest, but I fought hard in every contest and got the win.”
It’s Mallia’s second national title in the light welterweight under-64-kilogram category, after winning the event as a 15-year-old in 2011.
“I went to the world championships in Kazakhstan, and as a 15-year-old that’s a great accomplishment,” he said. “I came back and worked hard at the state championships and got silver last year at the national titles.”
Mallia says he expects to find out in early to mid May whether he will be on the plane to Glasgow.
“The way my coach trains us is at an international level,” he said.
“I will be really positive and keep training … I think I can win a gold medal.”
