Stop pigeonholing people Why Olympic boxer Harry Garside dares to be different

He’s the ballet-dancing boxer who dares to be different, painting his fingernails in the five colours of the Olympic rings and talking of wearing a dress to the Tokyo opening ceremony to celebrate diversity.

Now Melbourne fighter Harry Garside has set tongues wagging for his in-ring skills, advancing to the last four with his win over Kazakhstan’s Zakir Safiullin on Tuesday night.

Whatever happens in Friday’s lightweight semi-final showdown with Cuban Andy Cruz, a two-time amateur world champion, Garside is guaranteed at least a bronze medal.

Harry Garside exchanges punches with Zakir Safiullin during his quarter-final in Tokyo. Credit:Getty Images

Even in his troubled teens â€" when a talk from the Reach Foundation, the charity established by the late AFL Brownlow medallist Jim Stynes, helped him realise it was fine to follow his own path rather than those of his peer group â€" he never lost the discipline, drive and desire to succeed, says his mother Kate Garside, who has supported the 24-year-old’s boxing career since he was a primary schoolboy.

“He started out at Lilydale Youth Club gym when he was nine. He was told by Brian Levier, his coach, that he wasn’t allowed to get into the ring until he was 12. So he trained every weeknight for three years getting ready for real competition,” Kate explained. Garside has stuck with Levier â€" a featherweight in the early ’60s who once boxed a draw with Australia’s former world champion Johnny Famechon â€" ever since.

“He would take himself to training â€" skipping, shadow-boxing, punching bags, speedball, lots of push-ups and sit-ups. He would be there from 4.30 to 6.30pm every night of the week.”

Tiahna, 12, trains with Samantha Holborn as her sister Aliyah, 10, watches on at Garside’s home gym, Pure Boxing in Ringwood.Credit:Joe Armao

It was his father Shaun’s collection of Rocky DVDs that Kate believes inspired a youthful Harry to take up boxing.

“Harry used to sit down and watch them all the time. He says it’s because he wanted to match it with his older brothers Josh and Jack, but we think it came from the Rocky films.”

His early boxing career had been indifferent, with losses in 10 of his first 18 fights, and there were plenty of distractions that could have left him giving up the game.

But, says Kate, it was the Reach Foundation that kept him on course.

“They came to Harry’s school when he was in year 10 and really changed his life at that point,” she said.

“He was at a crossroads and he hadn’t won many fights and his mates were starting to go off and do what young boys do, and Harry didn’t know that wasn’t conducive to his boxing.

“Reach came into his life and showed him that it’s OK to be different, you don’t have to follow along and be the same as everyone else.

“His statement about his fingernails and wearing a dress was to shine light on the fact that we should stop pigeonholing people and that we want to break down stereotypes.

Many who don’t follow boxing will have been surprised to hear that Garside incorporates ballet in his training but in doing so he is merely following one of the all-time greats, Ukrainian Vasyl Lomachenko, a two-time Olympic gold medallist who won a world title in only his third professional fight.

Garside performs ballet exercises as part of his preparation for the Olympics.

Lomachenko’s trainer and father Anatoly made his son take dancing classes from the age of nine to focus on his footwork and prepare him for the rigours of the ring.

“He is his idol and when Harry heard he did ballet he was like, I’m going to do that too. That’s where it came from, and it’s really improved his footwork.“

She confesses that when her son first took up boxing she was full of trepidation.

“We were hoping it was going to be a short-lived exercise ... but he just continued and continued. I don’t think I can say I love it, but I love his dedication, I love his ability to look adversity in the eye.

Levi, 11, trains with Jason Whateley at Pure Boxing.Credit:Joe Armao

“He had some pretty tough calls early on and he just stuck at it because he is very resilient.

“I also appreciate it as an art form, it’s a chess game, it’s something that’s very tactical. It’s really not about hurting the other person, it’s about scoring points.

“It’s a bit like fencing ... they use a sword, boxers use their fists.”

Australia’s Olympic boxing team assistant coach Mark Wilson is another who enthuses about Garside’s dedication.

“Harry sets himself tasks that will put himself in difficult positions. It’s a mindset to get himself out of his comfort zone,” Wilson said from Japan.

“When he got here to Tokyo he said he would challenge himself by not talking to anyone for 72 hours. It was to prove to himself that he could do it.

“When we were sparring in the camp at Miyazaki, that was the only time he was allowed to talk, to say yes or no, when the coach was talking to him. He’s a very determined young man.”

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Michael Lynch is The Age's chief soccer reporter and also reports on motor sport and horseracing

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