Australian amateur boxer Alex Winwood has decided to make the transition to the professional ranks. He will be signing with renowned manager Tony Tolj and expects to make his professional debut in early 2022.

Winwood, who represented his country at the 2017 and 2019 World Championships and the delayed 2020 Olympics is looking forward to taking the next step in his career.

“It’s been a dream to pursue since I started boxing,” Winwood told The Ring. “There’s been many great Australian boxers and I want to be among them. The Moloney’s and just recently [George] Kambosos [Jr.] has shown the world that the Aussies mean business and to make my debut after something as inspiring as his effort makes me hungrier to show what I can do.”

The 24-year-old from Mandurah, in western Australia, is an indigenous Australian, from the Noongar Tribe which is the biggest out of all the aboriginal tribes in Australia.

He won three national titles and been on the national team for 5 years. However, the diminutive fighter, who began fighting at 16, has had to fight above his natural weight to get fights.

“Due to my weight there’s not many domestic fights for myself,” he said. “I’ve had to have a lot of fights at bantamweight domestically while competing at light flyweight internationally.”

Winwood has aspirations of adding his name to Australian boxing folklore but knows he has to take it one step at a time.

“I know to get to any big goal that you have to make smaller ones along the way, so, I want to be Australian champion, very soon,” he said. “I know skill-wise I’m already at that point so after that I want to fight the best in Asia.

“My ultimate goal is to win a world title and bring world championship boxing to Australia in the smaller weights.”

He feels his team, helmed by Tolj, is experienced enough to direct his career.

Alex Winwood – Photo by Luke Marsden

“Signing with Tony Tolj is great he has got all the best fighters in Australia at the smaller weights,” he explained. “He knows how to bring a fighter along and he can get them to a world title. I’m really excited to see what the future holds with our partnership I know we will have a lot of success and build something special.”

Tolj, who has expertly maneuvered the careers of the Moloney twins, is happy with his latest acquisition.

“Alex is a tremendous talent and I very excited for him to join the team,” said Tolj. “It’s the perfect fit. I can’t wait for what the future holds.”

Questions and/or comments can be sent to Anson at [email protected] and you can follow him on Twitter@AnsonWainwright