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Australian Academy of Boxing Coach


The Australian Academy of Boxing Coach is Dereck Herbert who has participated in boxing orientated sports and fitness for over 45 years. Dereck provides us with his experience, knowledge and insights regarding techniques and skills that enhance performance. Whether you are just starting out or have had many years of previous experience the step by step basic, intermediate, and advanced information, video clips, and equipment advice will help guide your own personal sports and fitness journey.





Australian
Academy of Boxing Coach
Dereck Herbert





Dereck 1967
Australian
Golden Gloves
Light-Welterweight Champion



Our Coaches
Sports & Fitness Background

Dereck Herbert comes from a family with an extensive background in the sport of Boxing and personally competed in England and Australia over a period of 13 years. His dad Sidney Herbert was a London amateur champion, his uncle Will killed in 1915 at the first battle of Ypres in World War 1 was an Army Boxing Champion of India, and his uncle Joe not only brought up British Champions Harry and Dicky Corbett but his son Harry was also a top professional in the 1950's.

In 1970 Harry went to see Dereck box in a return bout against English International Tony Tacchi after the ring doctor had put him out of the final of the English ABA Divisional Championships on a cut eye. Dereck was looking forward to reversing that result having just come off beating both English Army finalist Tommy Baker and Irish International Micky Foley but Tacchi never showed and Harry never saw him box.

Dereck first began boxing in England and then after moving to Australia boxed on the innaugral 1967 Channel Nine televised Australian Golden Gloves Boxing. Appearing on the first two Golden Gloves telecasts he took out the Best Boxer Award on both occasions. The championships starting shortly after were open to all-comers as a lead up to the 1968 Mexico Olympic Games and in a vintage year of boxing Channel Nine flew the best boxers into Melbourne from all over Australia.

Dereck received a walkover against the Tasmanian Champion, beat the Queensland Champion by a whisker, picked up another Best Boxer Award in out-punching the Victorian Champion in a Semi-final shoot-out, and then beat South Australian Champion Tony Smith to win the Light-Welterweight Crown.

All good things come to an end and Dereck lost on points in the final of the 1968 televised Mexico Olympic Trials, but as he said to the newspaper reporters a couple of years later when a cut eye cost him a fighting chance at the English ABA Crown -
"that's the way the cookie crumbles".
Dereck swapped his competition gloves for trainers garb in 1976 gaining wider boxing experience over the years with stints as Coach//Manager of the Victorian State Boxing Team, Australian National Coaching Executive Officer, Judge and Referee. In 1990 he founded the Australian Academy of Boxing, where Boxacise® was born, to provide Boxing and Boxacise(Boxercise) training that has raised the worldwide general publics awareness to the cross training benefits of boxing orientated exercise participation.

Dereck has coached thousands of participants attending Boxacise® Level 1 Coach Accreditation Courses, and A.A.B. Golden Gloves Boxing® -White Collar Boxing® Inter-Club Competition Workshops.