Sacco’s arms were raised in triumph after defeating Sydney boxer Soroush Ashjaa by technical knock-out in just over two minutes at the Italia Club in Sunshine earlier this month.

“I went well. It was good but I didn’t expect it to go that short. I was very happy with it,” Sacco said.

In the ecstasy of victory, the only thing missing was the supportive shouts of his mother. “I lost my mum earlier this year. She was a big supporter of my boxing, followed me all around Australia. She’d probably be the loudest person yelling on the sidelines when I was fighting,” Sacco said.

“I know she would have been there looking over me for sure,.”

Sacco has been fighting in amateur bouts for eight years and said he had a 50-50 win rate over 40 fights.

“I’ve been training since I was a kid. This was my first pro fight,” he said. “My dad was a professional boxer. That’s what threw me to it when I was younger.  One day after I’d done all this training, I thought I might as well get in there and give it a go, so I got back into it at an older age.”

Sacco, who  trains twice a week in Geelong and was part of the AIS boxing team, - said the best preparation before a fight was to relax and get your mind right.