Boxing: Bay boys set for return bout

Izzy Standish and Kelvyn Jones will fight each other in Gisborne tomorrow night. Photo / Paul Taylor

Two years is a long time to wait for a revenge mission but Hawke's Bay kickboxer Izzy Standish doesn't mind.

Nor is he concerned it will be a different form of martial arts when he takes on Kelvyn Jones of the Hawke's Bay Combined Martial Arts Club at the Te Ihi Atu Fight Night at Gisborne's YMCA tomorrow night. Standish, who will be one of three Jackals fighters who will compete at the August World Muay Thai Championships in Thailand, was beaten by a points decision when he took on Jones in a karate bout at the 2013 edition of the annual New Zealand International Kyokushin Karate Organisation's Easter national tournament in Hastings.

"Revenge will definitely be a motivating factor for me ... it's important I keep on winning as I prepare for Thailand. I want to bring home gold from that August trip," Standish said.

The 16-year-old Hastings Boys' High School Year 12 student boasts a four-wins, one-loss record from his two years in the kickboxing ranks. He has established a reputation for being more of a technician than a master of the knockout.

"I've been training for six weeks for this one. The plan is to wear Kelvyn down," Standish said.

He intends to get in as many fights as possible before August and the former Hawke's Bay Ross Shield lock has put his rugby career on hold to focus on kickboxing.

Jones, 17, is confident he can repeat his karate win against Standish. He also has a four-win, one-loss record and the last of his victories was a knockout four weeks ago.

Unlike Standish, Jones was cautious about releasing details of his plan for the full Thai rules bout scheduled for three two-minute rounds.

"Although I've never seen Izzy fight I've got a plan we've been working on during trainings for the past three weeks."

Jones became his club's first North Island champion last year when he beat Orewa's Ethan Moverley for the vacant under-18 65kg class K1 title. The former Karamu High School student has had to shed a couple of kilograms to take on Standish.

Originally Jones was eyeing a career in the police force but he intends to stay in the entertainment industry so he can continue to kickbox at the same time. He is unsure when he will fight again after tomorrow night.

"I prefer to focus on one fight at a time and at the moment it's this one with Izzy."

Standish will fight in the 67kg cadet division in Thailand. Others from the Jackals Gym preparing for Thailand will be 71kg senior division fighter DJ Edwards and 54kg junior division exponent Aaron McAdam.

Other Jackals on tomorrow night's card are junior kickboxers Lucas McAdam and Julian Hikawai who will fight in the 37kg and 40kg divisions respectively and boxer Laddie Tamati who will start in a 115kg senior bout.