ADRENALINE helped boxer Howard Sharp push through injury to win his first Australian masters gold medal.
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The Port Fairy-based fighter was one of two Rudy's Boxing competitors to win at the Adelaide-based competition this week.
Warrnambool's Brad Rogers also returned to the south-west with gold.
Sharp, 61, took a shoulder injury, which first surfaced 12 weeks ago, into the masters.
But he was "determined to get it done" and won his two over 60 69-75 kilogram fights by technical knockout in the first round.
"Two weeks before the trip it was sore after some sparring sessions so I went to the doctor and had a scan and it said I'd torn a tendon on the top of my shoulder," Sharp said.
"I got an injection of cortisone and it settled it down and I trained at 24/7 Gym's altitude room two or three times a week to keep my fitness up because I couldn't do boxing work."
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Sharp eased his way back into boxing training to ensure he could compete at the masters where the adrenaline took over but he could "feel it afterwards".
He will now focus on training rather than fighting, conceding he needed to give his shoulder time to recover.
Rogers said Sharp was "very impressive".
"He doesn't look 60 and he doesn't act 60. He's a good guy 'Podge'," he said.
"We roomed together and had a great time, it was a really good tournament."
Rogers, who arrived at Rudy's Gym in 2015 tipping the scales at 160 kilograms, won his 34-50 year-old 91kg final.
"I had to hang around and make sure my weight was right for three days and had the second last fight of the tournament but I got away with a win," he said.
"It was a tough fight. It was a pretty good feeling, a lot of relief to be honest. There was a lot of pent up energy.
"You can't beat the adrenaline of getting in the ring."
"He was under 75 kilograms and over 60 and he made short work of his fights.
Rogers' fight went the distance - three two-minute rounds.
"He kept coming up and hooking up on me. We had a plan for that but I sort of forgot what I was meant to do in the second round and then fixed it up in the third round," he said.
Both Rogers and Sharp praised Rodney 'Rudy' Ryan for his coaching help.
"A lot of respect and reward needs to go to my coach 'Rudy' Ryan.
"Without him there is no way I would've been able to do any of this and I want to thank my wife Erin too."
Rogers said he'd recommend the sport to anyone.
"A lot of people think boxing is about hitting people. It's not, it's about fitness, dedication and hard work," he said.
"It's not a young person's game. When I originally came in it was never about boxing, it was to lose weight."
Sharp said Ryan "runs a really good gym and everyone who trains in there is very happy".
"Boxing makes you feel healthy and fit and it's good for the mind," he said.
"You feel alive. It puts you on the right track. A lot of blokes in Adelaide said they were drinking and not making good choices in life and now with boxing their whole lives have changed around and it's a bit like that for me."
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