When Gunnedah boxer Wade Ryan speaks about his career, he always uses plurals.
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It's "us" and "we". He never uses "I" or "me".
It's a team effort, and Ryan is thankful to everyone who has played their part throughout his career.
It all started with trainer David "Spike" Syphers over 15 years ago, and the pair haven't parted since.
Syphers took a "cheeky little" teenaged Ryan and harnessed his potential, to become a boxer who's fighting on massive cards in Australia.
Ryan has now strung together four wins on the trot, his latest coming in Sydney on Wednesday night when he won via unanimous decision - 99-90, 100-89, 98-91 - against Japan's Nath Nwachukwu.
The fight immediately preceded Tim Tszyu's win over Japan's Takeshi Inoue.
Ryan, 31, retained his International Boxing Organisation international super welterweight title, and improved his record to 20-9-0.
It was after the fight, while speaking to Sporting News, that Ryan dedicated the win to his good mate.
"My trainer, Spike - longtime trainer, longtime best mate - lost his brother [Ray] last week," he said. "And for him to come away and be at the fight and do everything leading up to the fight with the loss of his brother means the world, and shows what kind of man he is."
When speaking to The Northern Daily Leader on Thursday, the resilient Syphers said he was "doing alright" but admitted to feeling some mixed emotions.
"Definitely [feeling] a bit up and down but it's good to get the win home," he said. "That was always going to be a tough fight so happy to take the win."
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Ryan's current winning sequence has equalled his best ever run, but he has taken his career to a much higher level.
That first run of wins was ended by none other than Tszyu, and kick-started a lean patch for Ryan where he lost four out of six fights.
That seems like a lifetime ago now, with him in career-best form and chasing bigger fish.
"It's good, we've worked hard for it and I knew he always had the potential," Syphers said. "He's just started to put it all back into the ring now."
After the latest triumph, Syphers said Ryan was now the No. 2-ranked super welterweight in Australia behind Tszyu and was ranked No.42 in the world.
Ben Jaffrey
Ben is a content curator and journalist for The Land. He has been with ACM since 2015 and first worked at The Area News and then at the Northern Daily Leader. Ben first joined ACM Agri as a digital journalist for all seven agricultural mastheads in 2022 before shifting to The Land full-time in 2023.
Ben is a content curator and journalist for The Land. He has been with ACM since 2015 and first worked at The Area News and then at the Northern Daily Leader. Ben first joined ACM Agri as a digital journalist for all seven agricultural mastheads in 2022 before shifting to The Land full-time in 2023.
