Four months after he got his head kicked in his first amateur fight leading to first round stoppage, followed by a badly rolled ankle, Muay Thai fighter Joseph Averte is over the moon.
Joe, who has Greek heritage tracing back to the village of Prasino in Arcadia, just recently competed in his second amateur fight, and he won.
“For the last three to four months I’ve been working at a much higher level because this next fight would have been make or break for me,” he told Neos Kosmos.
“Stepping back into the ring after you’ve been stopped early in a fight there’s a lot of nerves that come with that, on top of already what’s there.
“It was one of the best things that’s ever happened to me the win, it was worth all the work that I had to do to get there.”
Joe got into Muay Thai two and a half years ago, with the intention of competing.
He has even trained in Thailand, the country where the martial art originates from.
The 23-year-old is driven and disciplined, training six days a week Monday to Friday, lifting weights and running in the morning and after work (he’s in sales for a dental company).
“It takes up a lot of time out of your day, it’s like a full-time job almost. You finish your work day and then go straight into training for two and half to three hours. It’s not always easy but having a good support network around you like family and friends makes a big difference,” he said.
But what drove him, especially after his first fight which could very well have been disheartening?
“After getting your head kicked and almost knocked out in your first amateur fight. It’s one of those things where, am I going to let this stop me? Am I never going to compete again? Or am I going to work even harder to win?”
The latter was always going to be the option for Joe, because felt that if he didn’t or even put it off for a bit, he was never going to return.
This drive and never say die attitude cans be traced back to when he was a kid.
When he was six, Joe was selected to attend the audition of the National Boys Choir of Australia. When he was rejected, it became a challenge and within a year he found himself a member of the choir.
As he mentioned before, having a support network is crucial, even if not everyone is fond of you getting hit in the ring.
“My girlfriend isn’t a huge fan of it, she doesn’t like that I compete and she’s gets very stressed about it, but she’s very supportive.”
As for his family Joe thinks because his brother was already an amateur boxer they were a little less worried about him taking up the practice.
Now that he has ticked off his first fight and first win, he hopes to rack up more fights and hopefully turn pro sometime in the near future.
