Today she is the founder and coach of Invercargill’s Southern Queens Boxing Gym.
The gym is community-focused, teaching boxing and also providing comprehensive support for mental, physical, spiritual and emotional wellbeing.
Mauu had to overcome her own personal struggles on her journey to opening the gym.
Raising a son with special needs led to her suffering depression and anxiety.
To combat those emotions she took up boxing.
The training enabled her to deal with her emotions and shed weight, and her natural knack for the sport pushed her to compete and win her first bout at the age of 33.
"Boxing to me is like my home, it’s my safe space, it’s like a church.
I feel at peace here," she said.
Various programmes include whanau spar days, WAYV (We align your vision) — a kaupapa aimed at male Maori and Pasifika rangatahi, and Whakapakari Mahi, a Ministry of Social Development initiative.
"An MSD staff member came down to our gym and saw what we were doing in the community and then approached me and asked if we would work with them," Mauu said.
Whakapakari Mahi is a 26-week programme for rangatahi who are 16-plus by preparing them for the workforce through building their character and harnessing the power of boxing science.
Mauu said there were "inequalities with how kids from this side of the tracks" were viewed and she wanted her gym to "change the negative stigma around people from the south side".
Since the gym opened in September 2023 it had been "embraced with open arms".
Mauu attributed that to the different walks of life who came through the gym.
Mauu aims to "put Invercargill’s boxing scene back on the map" by training four fighters for a competition.
Izaya "Izzy" Simeon and Jesse Hawken have both won national titles under Southern Queens Boxing training.
- By Nina Tapu
