The 15-year-old, who fights out of Goulburn Valley Boxing Academy is the pride of the region after an incredible showing in the competition which was held at Bernie Mullane Sports Complex in New South Wales on April 11.
Reinforcing his credentials as one of the standout talents to emerge in these parts in recent times, the teenage prodigy has proven that winning is a habit following previous successes in claiming the belts in Queensland at the Sunshine Coast Regional Titles less than a month ago.
Such impressive talent on the canvas clearly runs in the family too – with younger sibling Izaiah Harrington, 13, also having also come away with the spoils in the tropical state, all while fighting two kilograms above his usual weight class.
Taking his form into the contest in Sydney last week, elder brother Urijah picked up yet another crown following his all-conquering showing en route to a historic victory, which saw him be crowned “King of the Ring”.
His younger sibling was unable to compete in Sydney due to his age, but it appeared that Urijah was in the mood to win the illustrious title for both of them at the event.
The milestone win over NSW starlet Diego Martinez came as he went the full distance in the showpiece fight, demonstrating much of the passion, ingenuity and dominance that has come to accompany many of his forays into the ring.
Perhaps on track to one day represent his country at the Olympic Games, the young pugilist already has become national champion twice before now, with the fanfare over his exploits very much justified by this stage.
Now, the father of the boy known as “Sweet Pea” Harrington has spoken with pride about his older son’s continued rise to prominence.
“It all stems from our family tradition,” Zedda Harrington said, explaining that himself, his own brother and their father all donned the gloves in the past.
“Urijah is a fourth-generation boxer and so it transcends down the bloodline to him – that’s inspired him to follow in those same footsteps.
“It fuels that fire to keep succeeding and because we’re in regional Victoria we’ve always been seen as the battlers, so we don’t have the luxuries that metro boxers have, who can go suburb to suburb and see quality sparring partners and facilities.
“So we are punching above our weight, so to speak, we put in thousands of kilometres and really thank our sponsors for backing us and that hasn’t come overnight – they have seen he is a boy to back.
“His commitment for his age is second to none.”
The Shepp wunderkind even sacrificed celebrating his birthday on April 10, with his fight in Sydney having been scheduled for the day after, such is his dedication to his craft.
“He clearly won the first, second and third (rounds) and won a unanimous decision from the three fight judges,” his dad said, as he outlined how his boy fared against Martinez before claiming victory.
“It’s all coming together now and he’s starting to really click, he’s a bottom age junior, so it’s a little bit more difficult being 15 and fighting 16 and 17-year-olds.”
Next up, Urijah will head off with his brother to take part in the State Championships on May 1, which will subsequently open up the pathway for him to compete to become national champion for the third time in his fledgling career in Queensland in July.
Having already represented Victoria, dad Zedda outlined how of his sons were daring to dream big as they set their sights on appearing at the Olympic Games in the future.
“They would love that,” he said.
“They’re very disciplined kids and, like I always say to people, ‘boxing is an easy sport to quit’ – the three years they’ve put in, they’ve showed they don’t know how to quit.”
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