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Full Boar Thai Boxing has been steadily growing since its small beginnings in trainer Vince Parkes’ garage more than a decade ago.

The former South Pacific and Australian champion brought his love of Muay Thai to his home town of Cooktown in 1997 and produced his first fighters a year later.

Since then the gym has expanded to include Australian, Queensland and North Queensland champions and fighters have completed numerous medal-winning forays to the IFMA World Championships.

The new fully-equipped carpeted gym includes six-foot hanging bags, a boxing ring, shower and toilet and weights.

Vince’s passion is promoting the sport through the next generation,

and he has taken juniors to five world championships to prove his point to the world.

“We have to put as much time and effort into the youngsters as we do the ‘Preacher’s’ and ‘John’ Wayne Parr’s of the fight game,” he said.

“If we build our young fighters, make sure they get on the good shows, the sport will stay strong and the future of Muay Thai will be safe.”

Consequently, the gym is like a second home to many young students, providing a close-knit support group and a safe, supervised place to train and build self-esteem, fitness and stay motivated.

Trained by the Sunshine Coast Thai Boxing Centre’s Joe Hilton, Vince takes a similar no-nonsense approach to fitness, and students can often be seen scaling Cooktown’s drawcard Grassy Hill lookout or doing sprints in the street outside the gym.

As well as being the Sunshine State’s most northern gym, Vince runs the most northern fight nights, regularly holding WMC-sanctioned shows in Cooktown, Mareeba and Cairns since 2000.

Fighter classes are held twice daily five days a week, with regular classes suitable for all ages and fitness levels held twice weekly.  

Visit www.fullboar.org for more details.