After breaking the same leg twice, Stawell Elite Contender gym owner and personal trainer Damien Smith has made a kickboxing comeback with a win at an VAMAA event at the Melbourne Pavilion earlier in March.

Smith said he had initially feared he may never get back into the ring, but he was able to overcome these obstacles to claim a 'rewarding' win.

"It was my first competition and fight back for four years," he said.

"Unfortunately I suffered a broken leg back-to-back, so that has put me a long way back, to the point where I didn't think I would be competing or training at a competitive level.

READ MORE:

"But through some hard work and some consistency I have managed to get my body right.

"The opportunity came up to get in and have a crack through the VAMAA promotion and I jumped at the opportunity to get in there."

Smith, who also owns Elite Contender gyms in Nhill and Warracknabeal, has been training in Stawell as well as with a team at the Barbarian Muay Thai centre in Ballarat.

"It was probably about eight weeks of solid, hard training every day so it was quite rewarding to get in there and get the win after such a long time between any sort of competitions," he said.

"The key point in the lead-up to the fight was just getting as fit as possible and getting my body conditioned and making sure I was feeling sharp and everything was feeling on track."

Smith said the fear of his broken legs rested in the back of his mind, and with his first fight out of the way, he was looking to take part in more fights in the future.

"Trying to find the confidence in the body was a very hard thing," he said.

OTHER NEWS:

"After two breaks in the same spot in the same leg it was a big mental challenge to even throw kicks on that leg, let alone compete.

"It was in the back of my mind the whole time, but I was very calm and relaxed the whole time and I didn't get too energetic about the fight and I just tired to think my way through it.

"The plan at this stage is to keep the body right and keep fit and hopefully go again around mid-year, June or July."

Smith said starting to kickbox was one of the best decisions he had made, which had helped set him on his career journey.

"Getting involved in kick-boxing was probably the best decision I've made confidence wise and physically, it has given me that drive to make sure I am the fittest I can be," he said.

"The sport got me involved and passionate about the industry and that's why I am where I am today, as qualified personal trainer who owns three gyms I wouldn't have all that if I didn't get into kick-boxing."

"When I first walked into the kick-boxing gym I was a quiet, shy boy who weigh about 60 kilograms, and I have come out with the confidence to tackle a lot more things in life now."

If you can see this message, you are a loyal digital subscriber to The Stawell Times-News, as we made this story available only to subscribers. Thank you very much for your support and for allowing us to continue telling Stawell's story. We appreciate your support of journalism in our great town.