Three Southland boxers to head to national champs
THE Southland Boxing Association has confirmed it will send three boxers to next month’s New Zealand Championships in Christchurch.
Southland Boxing Association life member Tom O’Connor said Jesse Hawken, Reece Holz, and Rawere Tipuna will fly the Southland flag on the national stage.
For Hawken, it will be his third trip to the New Zealand Boxing Championships, and his last lining up in the youth division.
Hawken, who fights out of the Southern Queens gym in Invercargill, was likely to compete in the youth male 75kg grade.
Gore’s Reece Holz has been picked and would likely compete in the junior male 66kg division.
At the recent Southland Boxing Championships in Invercargill, Holz beat Rawere Tipuna, from the Noble Art gym, by unanimous decision.
However, the selectors have seen enough in Tipuna to give him a shot in the Southland team for the nationals.
The plan was to get Tipuna down to 63kg and enter him in the junior male 63kg division.
The Southland Championships on August 25 provided the trio with a good tuneup leading into the nationals, which will start in Christchurch on October 2.
However, this year’s premier Southland boxing event had some problems.
The event received about 45 entries, with close to 30 of those expected to travel from Christchurch.
However, just five Christchurch boxers showed up, reducing the expected 16 bouts to just seven.
O’Connor said the noshows from Christchurch had hit the Southland Boxing Association in the pocket.
‘‘I haven’t looked at how much [we lost], but it’s a disaster,’’ he said.