By Nick Creely
Two of Doveton Boxing Club’s finest talents competed hard in their tour of New Zealand recently, representing Regional Victoria Boxing with great success.
15-year-old Doveton pair Levi Harrison and Zealand Rakei jetted off to Christchurch and Auckland for a recent 10-day tour, doing the south-east region proud with their efforts and taking their respective competitions by storm.
The first tournament of the tour was against a select South Island team in Christchurch, with Zealand – competing in the Junior Girls 75kg – eager to impress, jumping straight into her opponent with a barrage of punches, forcing the referee to call a standing eight count 20 seconds into the first round, with her opponent clearly dazed and on the back foot.
Zealand – sky high with confidence and with a heap of talent – then pounced with a flurry of heavy punches, forcing her opponent’s corner to throw in the towel 46 seconds into the first round.
Next up was Levi – competing in the 66kg Junior Division – who was stepping up in class in this bout but was confident heading into it. In the first round, Levi landed some heavy fast shots, forcing his opponent to retreat on the back foot.
With a local crowd cheering loudly, the second round saw the South Island boxer look to stamp his authority, but Levi landed cleaner shots to break down his opponent with a lead rip to the body visibly hurting his opponent, with the relentless youngster picking up a terrific, and confidence boosting win. Levi was also awarded Scientific Boxer of the Tournament.
The pair then travelled through the country with a team of boxers and coaches from all over Victoria, sparring and sight-seeing along the way, all while focusing on what promised to be a tough Auckland Cup the following weekend.
Zealand was once again first up in her Auckland Cup bout, coming up against a South Auckland boxer who looked fit and confident. In the first round, both boxers were clearly in their element, resulting in a hard-to-score round. But in the second round, Zealand came out blazing, landing some heavy right hands that saw her start to get on top of her opponent. In the third round, Zealand came out aggressively, with her power forcing the referee to call a standing eight count on her tough and exhausted opponent, with the rest enough for her to survive the bout and come home strong with a big win.
Adding to the stunning success, Levi was on next against another South Auckland boxer, and despite an even start to the bout, the skill of Levi was the difference, landing cleaner shots to give him a brilliant Auckland Cup win.
It was a spectacular success for the Doveton Boxing Club in their first overseas competition, with both boxers looking for bigger and better things in the coming weeks and months.
