{"id":941794,"date":"2026-10-26T18:08:16","date_gmt":"2026-10-26T18:08:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/941794\/"},"modified":"2026-10-26T18:08:16","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T18:08:16","slug":"fighting-back-how-adaptive-boxing-changed-one-geelong-mans-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/941794\/","title":{"rendered":"Fighting back: how adaptive boxing changed one Geelong man’s life"},"content":{"rendered":"

BOXING<\/p>\n

Four years ago, champion adaptive boxer Phillip Hulands was feeling lost.<\/p>\n

The Geelong 40-year-old had been living with a rare autoimmune disease that affected his mobility for nearly two decades and had turned to alcohol and cigarettes while grappling with depression.<\/p>\n

He was not the same man that recently became the first Australian Adaptive Boxing Council (AABC) Boxing Champion.<\/p>\n

He now barely recognises the man who first arrived at Complete Health Geelong, where he met the coach who would help change his life.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was always smoking cigarettes and I was bad on the alcohol,\u201d he said. \u201cI was rocking up [at the gym] smelling of alcohol. It wasn\u2019t very good or healthy.<\/p>\n

\u201cA fair bit of depression got a hold of me and I am so glad I\u2019ve got coach [Harrison] who actually pulled me out of that depression.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe let me see the bright light that we all deserve to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Phill Hulands celebrates his title win with adaptive boxer Dallas Lane Bryson, coach Luke Harrison and Australian boxer Jeff Fenech. Photo: supplied.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hulands first took up boxing after a friend recommended the sport and helped connect him with Harrison at the trauma-informed community gym.<\/p>\n

What began as a way to improve his fitness and build friendships soon became something bigger, with Hulands determined to test himself in the ring.<\/p>\n

But finding an opponent proved far more difficult than they had anticipated.<\/p>\n

Proposed bouts were repeatedly cancelled, leaving the pair searching for other adaptive boxers without a central organisation to connect athletes and arrange match-ups.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were cold-calling gyms,\u201d he said. \u201cWe were talking to people we saw in wheelchairs in the street. We\u2019d stop them and talk to them [about adaptive boxing].<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019d become pests, essentially.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eventually, footage of an adaptive boxing exhibition attracted attention from people across Australia who were looking for the same opportunity.<\/p>\n

Slowly, they established a network of adaptive boxers across Australia through chance meetings and messages on social media. But while several fights were proposed, they continued to fall through.<\/p>\n

\"\"Phill Hulands with coach Luke Harrison and fellow adaptive boxer Dallas Lane Bryson. Photo: supplied.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIn so many ways it was disappointing, but it made me feel stronger,\u201d Hulands said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI kept thinking I\u2019m going to have my fight. I\u2019m going to push and keep pushing forwards, don\u2019t go backwards.\u201d<\/p>\n

Navigating those setbacks became just as important as the physical training itself.<\/p>\n

Alongside Harrison, Hulands was able to develop positive coping mechanisms as they continued the journey towards the national championship.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe never said \u2018You can\u2019t do this\u2019,\u201d Harrison said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we had fights fall through, it was devastating for Phill, but it was important to feel that. We\u2019d be upset about it for a week and after that we get back to it, because we\u2019re fighters and that\u2019s what fighters do.\u201d<\/p>\n

After four years of training, Hulands became the first Australian Adaptive Boxing Council (AABC) Boxing Champion after defeating Eddie Buttimore.<\/p>\n

\"\"Phill Hulands takes a small billboard with him on outings to help promote the work of AABC. Photo: supplied.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

For a man who had spent years feeling defined by his condition, the championship meant more than just receiving a belt.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverywhere else that finds out about my illness, they say I am unfit or incapable. I\u2019ve always been told that,\u201d Hulands said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow I\u2019m holding the Australian adaptive boxing belt to my name. No other Australian has ever held that belt to his name.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hulands credited Harrison\u2019s continued belief in him as a driving force behind his progress.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo matter what falls down, he\u2019s always there to say, \u2018Let\u2019s go. Let\u2019s do this\u2019,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Now, with the recently founded Australian Adaptive Boxing Council (AABC), Harrison is hopeful that adaptive boxing will continue to grow.<\/p>\n

After struggling for so long to find the adaptive boxing community, AABC provides a much-needed centralised organisation for athletes and coaches to link into.<\/p>\n

\"\"Adaptive boxing is growing in popularity across Australia. Photo: supplied.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe issue isn\u2019t that there\u2019s no one in wheelchairs who wants to box,\u201d Harrison said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe issue is that there\u2019s nowhere for people to go to find and match up.\u201d<\/p>\n

With its first national championship now complete, the council is looking towards an international trip in 2027, with a team of Australian adaptive boxers, including Hulands, hoping to compete against athletes associated with the United Adaptive Boxing Council in the United States.<\/p>\n

The trip would provide an opportunity to test themselves internationally while building connections with the wider adaptive boxing community.<\/p>\n

To learn more about AABC visit aabcboxing.com<\/a> and to support ABBC\u2019s athletes to travel to America next year visit gofund.me\/0bb858e0e<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BOXING Four years ago, champion adaptive boxer Phillip Hulands was feeling lost. The Geelong 40-year-old had been living…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":941795,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,85],"class_list":["post-941794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boxing","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/941794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=941794"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/941794\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/941795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=941794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=941794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=941794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}