Woolston head coach Holly Sullivan eagerly anticipates the novice championship each year.
“It gives fighters an opportunity to fight someone their own level and experience,” she said.
“(They can) put themselves in a position to get some more experience to be ready.”
While five Woolston fighters are confirmed for the tournament, Sullivan said the number could rise to eight as she assesses their readiness.
“Most boxers can attack, but it’s the other side. I need to make sure they can defend and handle being put under pressure,” she said.
Among the confirmed fighters, three will be making their competitive debut.
“They’ve been looking forward to this for such a long time, putting so much groundwork in,” Sullivan said.
“They’ve been doing extra running, extra training, getting to the gym whenever they can. These are young kids, 10, 14, and 15, absolutely putting this work in.”
Smiling Tigers Boxing Club head coach Mark Fuller is sending six fighters to the novice championship.
“It’s always a good tournament. It has been running for 25 or 26 years now, so that’s quite good.”
One of Fuller’s top prospects this season is 18-year-old Kruize Pelesa, though he won’t be competing at the novice championship.
Instead, Pelesa will take part in Papuni Boxing’s Charity Fight Night on April 5.
He is the defending youth featherweight (57kg) national champion, having won his title at Cowles Stadium last year.
“He’s in the New Zealand development team and he was just up in Auckland a couple of weeks ago at a national training camp,” Fuller said,
Another fighter to watch is Leah Newman, an accomplished young boxer returning to competition.
“She’s already won two New Zealand titles and she had a runner-up last year,” Fuller said.
“She’s only just come back into it, so she’s in the mix again this year. We’ll see how she goes.”
The South Island Novice Championship starts on March 29.
