Shepparton boxing bros Urijah and Izaiah Harrington impress at Brisbane-hosted Indigenous fight night

However, their recent trip had an added degree of feeling attached.

The Goulburn Valley Boxing Academy duo fought at the 2024 First Nations Boxing Championships at Brisbane’s Hamilton Hotel on September 21, gloving up with their ancestral Yorta Yorta blood pumping in their veins.

Inheriting roots through their great-grandmother, the Harringtons raised the arm in their respective First Nations exhibition bouts in an exhilarating powder keg of emotion and pride.

The occasion certainly wasn’t lost on older brother Urijah.

“It was unbelievable there — the atmosphere was crazy, I loved every minute of it,” he said.

“The crowd was going crazy and it was really good.”

Izaiah’s review was more to the point, but equally as glowing.

“Amazing,” he said.

The younger of the pair fought Tannar Harrington — who was remarkably unrelated — from All Stars Boxing, winning the rounds in a 30-32kg match that punched well above its weight.

Proud dad and coach Zedda Harrington was not the only onlooker left rapt with how the duel appeared on the eye test.

“The fight itself was really, really entertaining,” he said.

“It left the (Boxing) Queensland president Mark Evans and all the who's who in boxing Queensland really gobsmacked and thinking ‘look what’s ahead’, so the future's really bright.”

Meanwhile, Urijah’s original opponent pulled out, but a matchmaking fix-up had him square up to Cameron Brady from Mundubbera Boxing and Fitness.

Country kid against country kid.

Victoria versus Queensland.

It was never going to be boring.

Fuelling the fight’s heightened stakes was the lure of a belt on the line — Urijah’s first — and you bet he wasn’t going to fly back to Shepparton without testing the metal detector.

Though Brady had greater experience, the GVBA student showed spoonfuls of heart to win the bout by unanimous decision and drape his first strap over the shoulder.

Zedda was ecstatic for his sons, firstly for winning, but also for donning their cultural hats — or headgear, rather — and embracing their Indigenous heritage.

“It was special for the boys mainly to represent Shepparton as a whole,” he said.

“We work a lot with the Yorta Yorta people, so they fought with a lot of pride, carrying that on their shoulders as well which was really good.

“This was the third event; it's just gonna gain momentum and it could take off.”

Zedda said Queensland was a hive of activity for pugilism — Australia’s nerve centre for boxing in a sense.

So much so the Harringtons are punching their ticket to the Sunshine State again.

The fighting family is off to Rockhampton this weekend, adding another metaphorical stamp to the passport which means more flights, more punches to the face and hopefully more wins to the record.

But the grind is a validation of the Harringtons’ hard work, making each early morning and late night worth it in Zedda’s eyes.

“We're basically on a plane every weekend, nearly, that's what it feels like,” he said.

“It wouldn't be possible without our sponsors like Luke Slater and Brad Simpson.

“These guys, they really back us; without them, we wouldn't be getting out of our training room.

“We owe a lot to them and, I think, touching on the boys, for a lot of pride for the Yorta Yorta people, they carry their support base with them too when they fight.

“Even when we train every week, we've got a purpose. We know what we're training for and we want their hard-earned coin to be going to a worthy cause.”

There’s not much downtime for the young brothers in between flights, fights and training.

Zedda and his boys know sacrifices are non-negotiable on the path to greatness and the latter is not prepared to throw in the towel any time soon.

“(They have) two promising careers and it’s the start of something pretty special,” he said.

“We're just gonna work our a**e off — always improve.”