Warrnambool boxer Tom Carstein trains after his win on Sunday.
WARRNAMBOOL boxer Tom Carstein hopes a long-awaited victory in the ring can lay the foundation for more success this year.
Carstein claimed a 12-6 points decision victory against Melbourne’s Lucas Miller in a heavyweight bout at Brunswick on Sunday morning.
The fight was Carstein’s first since April last year after a series of scheduled bouts fell through.
But he took to the challenge like a seasoned fighter and emerged with a convincing win to take his record to 2-3 from five fights.
The 21-year-old, who weighed in at 88.7 kilograms, said he felt in control during the three two-minute rounds.
“On occasions he was coming in quite wild and getting big hits,” Carstein said of his opponent.
“I knew in my head he was wasting energy. I held a good guard and kept moving.
“As soon as I saw a time to strike, I did.
“I’ve worked on doing a lot of head movement, ducking and weaving. I haven’t seen my fight yet, but apparently that worked for me.”
Carstein, a commerce student at Warrnambool’s Deakin University, trains under respected coach Lyndon Edney at Koroit.
He had his first fight more than three years ago, on the eve of his 18th birthday, after giving away a football career.
“When it comes down to it, when you don’t win it’s not a team thing. It’s down to your efforts and what you put in,” he said.
Edney said Carstein had the potential to go far in the sport.
“His calm approach meant he was able to stick to his game and be as elusive and crafty as he is in sparring,” he said. “He made himself hard to get to and then awkward when in close.”
“It’s taken Tommy some time to settle and find his timing, but he’s nailing it lately and still shows a lot of potential to continue improving.”
Carstein was one of two boxers training under Edney to feature at Brunswick.
Josh Van Andel lost his debut light heavyweight fight 14-11 to Melbourne’s Will Dado.
“He has an incredible amount of natural talent and the minute he settles down and relaxes he’s going to do great things in the sport,” Edney said.
