Now, having landed in Beijing, this week, he is the Hawkesbury’s Australian Olympic representative and he is readier than ever to win.

The 21-year-old will be easy to spot, wearing pink on the streets of Beijing before fighting in the green and gold next week.

Traditionally the Hawkesbury has seen a number of equestrian competitors making it to the Olympics, however, boxing seems to be the district’s second successful sport, with Richmond’s Joel Brunker competing at the Athens Olympic Games in 2004.

Boyd secured his position in the Olympic squad after defending his Oceania bantamweight (54kg) title in the Samoan capital of Apia in April.

He managed to beat three opponents in three days to win the Oceania title making him one in only nine Australian boxers to qualify for the Games.

In what ended up being a remarkable bout, Boyd beat Papua New Guinean Eugene Keto in the final with a third round mercy rule stoppage, a mandatory stopping of a fight when a boxer takes a 20-point lead under the International Boxing Association’s Amateur rules.

Before his Olympic qualifiers in Samoa, Boyd came first at the AIBA World Championships in Chicago in the USA and earlier this year he came second when he competed in Halle, Germany, for the 2008 Chemistry Cup in the 54kg division.

Boyd has performed well throughout the past three years where he earned Boxing NSW’s Most Outstanding Boxer in 2006 and was awarded an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship in 2007. The Richmond Boxing Club champion initially trained by John Barber, is a former rugby league player from an early age who started boxing at 11 and decided to give up football at 16, due to his size.

During the year of the Sydney Olympic Games and at the tender age of 14 he competed in his first State titles and has since won two senior State titles in 2006 and 2007.

At his first National title in 2005 he competed in the Junior (U19) U54kg winning the title at 17.

Aiming towards the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Boyd competed at the trials while still a junior and just missed out on a position in the side by two points.

The 2006 and 2007 National Champion in the U54kg, at the 2007 World Championships he drew with the eventual gold medallist in the first round and was knocked out.

While Boyd is ready to compete in a week’s time at the Summer Games, there is still a number of Hawkesbury athletes scheduled to venture to Beijing in a fortnight’s time for the Paralympics, including swimmers Sian Lucas and Peter Leek in September.