'Time is ticking': Family drives Jorge Kapeen in pursuit of Australian boxing title shot

His tone changes. Suddenly, a fight falling through doesn't seem so bad, and the world no longer revolves around a looming title shot or the pursuit of an Australian crown.

"Saydi is getting big, my little girl. Isaiah is bloody growing fast and keeping me on my toes. 'Jules' [wife Julie] is doing awesome," Kapeen said. "If my family is healthy, I've got nothing to complain about. If a fight falls through, oh well."

Plenty have, but Kapeen - who fights for the MASA super welterweight state title on Saturday night - knows his "time is ticking".

So Kapeen [3-3] returns to the ring for the first time in 11 months against Josh Patterson [1-1] on the Adrenalyn Fight Circuit card at the Hellenic Club of Canberra on Saturday night.

MORE SPORT:

Kapeen was last sighted on a No Limit card last year when, with one wing, he fought outgoing 53-fight veteran Tommy Browne on short notice and shared the dressing room reserved on that night for Paul Gallen.

Now set to fight at home for the first time since April 2021, "The Koori Zombie" has outlined a desire to break into the top five of the national welterweight rankings before earning a shot at the Australian championship.

He has already fielded offers for fights in November and December while Adrenalyn promoter Shane Tipa is planning another show in February. Kapeen's roadmap features at least four fights next year.

"I've been a road warrior for a couple of fights," Kapeen said.

"I've had to be the B-side in a few. I've got no excuses. Everyone keeps asking me how I'm feeling, I'm in the best shape I've been in, I'm the sharpest I've been. I have no excuses, win or lose.

"When I fought Tommy Browne last year on late notice, I had one arm in that fight. I was scheduled for surgery, and then I thought I'm going to go fight and have it after. I decided to have some time off and get my arm right, and maybe dodge surgery.

"A lady called Caroline Adams, she works at Canberra Soft Tissue Therapy, I don't know what she did but she fixed me up. My arm was almost back to normal so I was like 'alright let's go, let's start chasing fights'."

So he did. There was the fight in Tasmania, where the whole show was cancelled a few weeks out. There was Cesar Afacan in Bendigo, which ultimately fell through. There was Jason Mallia, which Kapeen missed out on.

There was another one in there somewhere, with Kapeen left to train at the Canberra PCYC with "no light at the end of the tunnel". Dejected?

"It's part of the game. There's crazier stuff going on in the world than me missing fights," Kapeen said.

"It doesn't faze me too much. Yeah, it's frustrating, but at the end of the day it's not the end of the world. There's no point whinging over stuff you can't control.

"I'm always in the gym, there's no real thing as a camp for me. I just up the training for it to get ready for it. We went to watch Sarah Watt fight at Adrenalyn and it was a good show, so I reached out to the promoter. We used to play footy together and now here we are."

The super welterweight contest is one of three boxing bouts on the Adrenalyn Fight Circuit hybrid card, which also features heavyweight Arsene Fosso and light heavyweight Bryan Roberts.

We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on The Canberra Times website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. See our moderation policy here.