12:00a.m. 3rd September 2008

| Corina Best

Boxer Brett Smith won his weight division at the Golden Gloves title on the weekend. Photo: Chris McCormack/178015

Brett Smith might not have the Midas touch but he has still managed to turn his gloves into gold.

The 27-year-old from Mooloolaba won the Australian Golden Gloves Boxing Championships held at Caboolture on the weekend - the fourth competition he has won this year.

He beat fellow boxer Jay Toopey 36 points to 15 after an intense four-round bout.

“I got a lot more punches in – I’m more of a pressure fighter,” Smith said.

“I was pretty fortunate getting a good win.”

He obviously had boxing in his blood because a year ago Smith had not fought since he was a junior.

“I made a comeback 12 months ago and I love it now, it has become a pretty important thing to me.”

Smith usually fights at 64 kilos, but after a strict diet and exercise regime he managed to drop four kilos to enter in a lower weight class for the Golden Gloves.

“I chose to drop a weight division because it suited my body frame, so I went to the light weight division from light welterweight,” he said.

“It was actually relatively easy to lose the weight, I just had to change the pattern of my diet and eat a lot of good food rather than rubbish.”

Trainer Darren Obah said it proved his commitment to his fighting career..

“It really showed his dedication, he had to learn how to eat right,” Obah said.

Smith celebrated his win with a junk food binge on the trip home.

“I stopped at a bakery and at Coles where I had eaten almost a whole block of chocolate before I got to the register,” he laughed.

Smith usually trained three nights per week but leading up to the competition he was squeezing extra training sessions in wherever he could.

“He usually trains Monday, Wednesday and Friday but he was starting to come in Tuesday nights and even Sunday mornings,” Obah said.

Obah said he could not be prouder of Smith and his other fighter, Sam Punshon, and was happy of how they both performed during the competition.

“Sam lost on points against the guy who won silver, but he was actually fighting up a weight division because he didn’t watch his weight.” he said.