Boxing: Light heavyweight Garnham lifts gold

Three Tauranga Boxing Club members who fought at the recent North Island Golden Gloves in Taupo returned home with an elite senior title and a silver medal.

The North Island (and South Island) Golden Gloves rank second behind the Boxing New Zealand National Championships with national rankings on the line.

Following in the footsteps of Tauranga Boxing Club members Dave Aloua and Anthony Taylor, who both represented New Zealand at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, Lee Garnham secured a prominent place on the light heavyweight national rankings after annexing the 81kg Golden Gloves crown.

Garnham, who is a recent recruit to the Tauranga Boxing Club gym after 28 bouts in England, fought three times to win the elite male light heavy title.

First up he defeated New Zealand representative Cory Miles from Hamilton before dispatching Eric Finai in the semifinal.

The Tauranga boxer squared off against S Falekoono from Auckland in the gold medal contest, with Lee using his height, skills and footwork to good effect.

Despite breaking a bone in his hand in the second round, Garnham carried on with one hand to earn a points decision.

Fellow Tauranga gym mate Jamie Price also had three bouts. Price stopped Jarred Westrupp in his first fight in the middleweight elite male class, with Ben Fui also being stopped in the semifinals. Price faced a huge challenge in the final, meeting New Zealand 2008 Oceania Olympic qualifying representative Daniel Parkin. The fight went down to the wire with Price narrowly losing a split decision.

The third Tauranga boxer, Joseph Otteson, lost a close decision in his quarter-final bout.

The two Golden Gloves medals mean that both Garnham and Price should gain prominent national rankings when the new list is released in a few weeks.