IT HADN'T completely sunk in even by yesterday. "It feels unreal and the whole night was weird. It just felt like I was there for just another fight," Zero Tolerance kickboxer Nicole Kavanagh told SportToday from her Hastings office.
The 30-year-old insurance company employee is the World Kickboxing Federation (WKBF) super
middleweight national champion after a unanimous points decision over Natalia "The Hun" Teller in Auckland last Saturday night.
"She came out very hard in the first round but [Zero Tolerance trainer and world champion] Dion Crouch talked me into being more focused," said Kavanagh of her opponent who fights from the stable of world-class fighter Jason Suttie.
It did help that Kavanagh, the Napier gym's first female national champion, had fought defending champion Teller a few months ago and won by a split decision. But the Napier fighter said going to Thailand with Crouch to train with fighters there was also pivotal.
"They are technical in Thailand and give you back pointers. They are very straightforward and tell you if are doing something wrong," she explained, adding Crouch had been instrumental in every facet of her progress.
Her boyfriend, Lee Perry, a kickboxer and between gyms, was very supportive too. Perry is into jiu jitsu right now.
Kavanagh, who felt she could go on for a few more rounds after Teller had no answer for her hand-and-knee combinations, is keen on a world title fight now.
