Geraldton’s Kyson Crudeli the sole WA representative at 2024 Australian Schools Boxing Championships

Rising star Kyson “Lil Babe” Crudeli, 15, is set to become the fourth Geraldton local to compete in the 2024 Australian Schools Boxing Championships in the past three years.

The young boxer follows in the footsteps of other Mid West boxers in Shareef Mohammad, Eric Kyanga and Frauke Rawlings who have all made the trip over in recent years.

He will look to continue the success left by his predecessors, with both Kyanga and Rawlings bringing home a silver medal from last year’s championships in Adelaide.

The 15-year-old carries the weight of WA on his shoulders, being the only competitor to represent the State at this year’s title being held in Perth.

Kyson is coming into the title on a hot streak, winning two of his past three fights. Including a convincing victory over NSW representative Achilleus Kalatzis at the Australian Club Championships.

His past two losses have come at the hands of Australia’s fifth ranked boxer in the 50kg division, and the second ranked boxer in the 48kg division. Both losses came from points.

Coach Jake Peacock said Kyson had earnt his right to compete for the title and has proven his worth against top competition.

“If you want success in this sport you have to be active, take those hard fights, do the early morning runs and eat right, Kyson does it all,” Peacock said.

“Kyson has proved that he belongs at the top level in the country, in his last eight bouts he has competed against state reps from WA, SA and NSW, often fighting up a weight division or two.

“Babe has won four of those fights.”

Kyson was selected into the State team after just one-and-a-half years of fighting.

With the expectations set high, Peacock said the young boxer had already gone beyond the goals set.

“We had two goals for this year, one was to make the state team for the Nationals, the other to reach 20 fights by the end of the year,” he said.

“He’s accomplished one and we’ll look to extend that milestone of 20 fights to 25, aim to beat Kyanga’s mark of 24 in two years.”

With pressure building, Kyson said that it was anyone’s title in the division and the young boxer was looking to gain experience.

“Winning a medal would be great, there’s six in my division and anyone of us is in with a chance, a lot will depend on the draw,” he said.

The 2024 Australian Schools Boxing Championships will run from July 3-6 at Perth Town Hall.