Callum Peters

Indigenous boxer Callum Peters announced himself as a star of the future when he was narrowly beaten for middleweight gold in the fight of the tournament at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

Callum, just 19 at the time, lost by the slimmest of margins to tough Scotsman Sam Hickey in the gold medal bout.

Neither of the Australian television commentators could pick a winner at the end of the fight, which was scored 29-28 by the judges.

Callum, who entered the ring with a 51-9 amateur record, took control in the second round before appearing dominant in the third.

“That last round, I thought I landed heaps more punches,” Callum said. “Oh well. You learn from it.”

Callum was the youngest member of the Australian boxing team in Birmingham and the youngest in the 17-man middleweight field.

One of nine children, he took up boxing to improve his fitness and is coached by his father, Bradley, at North Central Boxing Club at Kapunda, near South Australia’s Barossa Valley.

Callum booked his ticket to Paris by winning gold at the 2023 Pacific Games in Honiara, Solomon Islands. He put on a dominant display to defeat Tongan Roman Viney by unanimous decision in the 80kg division.

“The ticket to Paris is in my hands, it’s freaky, I feel like I’m dreaming,” he said. “I’m so proud all of this hard work is paying off – 11 years now in the ring."

At the Paris 2024 Olympics in the men's 80kg preliminary round of 16 Callum squared off against Nurbek Oralbay (KAZ). A split decision from the judges awarded the fight 3:2 to Oralbay.

“I thought I had enough clean shots (to win). You can only learn from these experiences and get better," he said moments after the bout.

“He got in some hard shots but it’s a hard sport and you keep going.”