Big year holds more promise

BY MARTIN VAN BEYNEN

2009 is shaping as a pivotal year in the career of Christchurch amateur boxer Reece Pupuni.

In October he took the light heavyweight title at the national boxing championships in Rotorua, beating in the semifinals his friend and staunchest competitor in the ring, Zig Zag Wallace from Te Awamutu.

The win prompted his selection for the Oceania team for the President's Cup in Baku, a city of two million on the Caspian sea and the capital of Azerbaijan.

Four days before he left for the national tournament, his partner Nadia gave birth to their baby boy, Makaire.

In Baku next month he is hoping to catch the eye of teams looking for boxers for the new Amateur International Boxing Association world championship series, in which teams representing franchises from around the world will battle each other over a season starting next year.

The boxers will earn a salary but still be eligible to fight as amateurs in the Olympics and Commonwealth Games.

Meanwhile, Pupuni is stepping up his training with coach Paul Fitzsimmons and working fulltime as a storeman as he prepares for the contest in Baku, where he will be one of two New Zealanders selected for the Oceania team. The other is Palmerston North boxer Angus Donaldson.

"Things seem to be coming right. It's been a good year for me and maybe it can get even better," said Pupuni, 22, who has never been further afield than Samoa.

Money continues to be tight for boxing and Pupuni is grateful to his sponsors Mitre Tavern in Lyttelton, Fitzsimmons and Smiley Tiger boxing supplies.

"I also got to thank Coca- Cola because nobody, and I mean nobody, generally gets leave this time of year," Pupuni said.

The AIBA President's Cup was created in 2008 in honour of AIBA president Dr Ching-Kuo Wu and will be a biennial, Confederation team competition.

Eight teams are invited representing the Americas, Asia, Europe, Africa and Oceania.

The AIBA World Boxing Championships have been established to address the problem of Olympic champions leaving the fold of their national federation to pursue professional boxing careers.

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