By Richard BruinsmaCommonwealth Games gold medallist Justin Kane has joined the coaching team of Mooloolah boxer Sonia Williams, as she continues her journey toward her first pro fight later this year.Kane won gold at the 2002 Manchester Games in a comeback from what was an unsuccessful bronze medal bout at the Sydney Olympics two years earlier. He is remembered for his characteristic back flips in the ring to celebrate his victories.Today, after a matter of weeks in Williams’ camp, he has used the skills learned in his career to already make differences to her fight style - focusing on improving her movement around the ring and also instilling a more tactical mindset when it comes to throwing punches.“She’s got the motivation and the aggression, we just need to target it the right way,” Kane said about his relatively new protégé.“At the moment she’s putting everything into every punch, and I’m teaching her that every punch doesn’t have to be the same, I’m teaching her to vary her punches.”AdvertisementWilliams has spoken openly to the Sunshine Valley Gazette about her mental health challenges after being the first female in the New South Wales police riot squad, to her countless injuries and eventual medical discharge from the force - a rollercoaster that led to a loss of purpose and four suicide attempts.The one time bodybuilder and Tae Kwon Do black belt has since returned to study and focussing on a boxing career.Kane’s recent life shares remarkable parallels, after he walked away from boxing due to his“hate of violence”, before falling into rampant illicit drug use that was destined to rob him of his most important relationship – that with his young daughter.He realised he needed to sort his life out late last year when a welding flash, of all things, caused 24 hours of blindness. He immediately went “cold turkey”, has been drug free ever since and returned to training and boxing coaching.He also credits the positive attitude promoted in the book “The Secret” as helping renew his focus.“I hadn’t seen my daughter for 12 months because of the drugs and I thought I needed to clean my act up,” Kane recalled during his terrifying loss of sight.“The drugs were a band aid for other things and then ended up being the problem. Once I got a positive attitude, everything started to turn around.“Now I can see my daughter whenever I want; I’ve never been happier.”Kane had experienced a turbulent upbringing and fought some 233 amateur bouts, but turned his back on boxing after just two professional fights.“I hated the violence, I only did it for the trophies,” he said. “I even hate watching boxing, I find it boring.“The whole violence thing, it’s not me, but it was something I was good at.”His courage and honesty in sharing his deeply personal story has been an overwhelming motivation for Williams. They joke about their relationship being akin to “the cop and the crim”.“To be completely honest, I respect him so much more because of what he has gone through, and he’s turning his life around, and we’re on the same wavelength, we’ve got a common purpose,” Mrs Williams said.“We were meant to meet; our paths crossed at just the right time.”