A cause worth fighting for

GLOVES UP: Alyssha Maynard-Wilson (left), Simone Poi and daughter Materoa Poi are primed and ready for their fight debuts at Te Ihi A Tu Fight Night at Showgrounds Park Events Centre tomorrow. Picture by Paul Rickard

Three women who have never stepped foot in a ring will make their fighting debut in front of a sell-out crowd tomorrow.

Alyssha Maynard-Wilson, Simone Poi and daughter Materoa Poi have been training hard for 12 weeks in preparation for their tag team fight at the Te Ihi A Tu Fight Night Muay Thai/kickboxing event.

The night is Gisborne’s Rangataua o Aotearoa’s annual Fight Night, with the Muay Thai tag team event the highlight of the evening for many.

Although tag team comes from WWE wrestling, the format is not the same.

The fights will be 12 hell-for-leather one-minute rounds, with each fighter “tagging out” at the end of the round for a new team member to take their place.

Funds raised will be reinvested in the club, subsidising the fees for out-of-town tournaments for the kids who train at the gym.

Simone Poi said wanting to give back to the kids was a cause worth fighting for and she would be putting her money where her mouth was when she laced up the gloves tomorrow.

They knew “exactly what we were in for” when they signed up, but it was a surprise how much discipline and training went into being “fight ready” .

“Especially the starving (to make weight). It shows how much discipline you need.”

Materoa Poi said they had to take their entire wellbeing into consideration. Physical, mental and emotional health were critical to being successful in the ring.

The experience had made them all appreciate the hard work fighters put in day in, day out to be in peak physical shape.

All three women work together and said the experience had brought them closer together as friends and colleagues.

“We see each other every day and on the down days we’re there to pick each other up,” Maynard-Wilson said.

The night will be headlined by ROA’s Sam Parkes, who is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Hayden Todd at the Apex Muay Thai Warrior Series in Auckland on May 1

Parkes will take on Auckland’s Nate Law, fighting out of The Combat Academy, and will be keen to bounce back against his experienced opponent, who has trained under UFC fighter Dan Hooker.

It won’t be an easy fight for the local cowboy from Tolaga Bay, with Law having a 9-1 kickboxing record and aspirations to transition to MMA.

Fight Night is being held at the Showgrounds Park Events Centre.