Kaha Rozenbaum is assured of a national title at the National Golden Gloves Championships at Palmerston North this year but he wants to bring two titles back to Whangarei.
Rozenbaum will surely take his 14-year-old age group under 60kg class unopposed since no-one has signed up to challenge him.
However, his focus
is on beating New Plymouth's Corey Henan for the 16-year-old under 63kg title.
Two weeks ago, at the North Island Golden Gloves final, Rozenbaum was beaten by Henan on a points decision and he is determined to learn from the experience.
Against Henan - who at 16 is well over 1.8m tall - Rozenbaum struggled to score and trainer Ricci Malcolm said he will have to change tactics.
"I'm going to have to get in close quickly, get him and then get out again," Rozenbaum predicted.
Malcolm videotaped the last fight between the two and has been working with Rozenbaum to make sure that he has the right strategy to win the fight against such a reach disadvantage.
The 14-year-old will have to beat the South Island Golden Gloves champion to make the final against Henan but they are confident that despite giving away some experience, the younger fighter is capable of lifting the title.
Rozenbaum and his family are holding a fundraiser at the Ruakaka Tavern tomorrow, with proceeds from a $200 meat raffle helping to send the boxer and his trainer down to the championships next weekend.
Another 14-year-old, Kaylah Munday, will compete in Palmerston North in the open 63kg class.
Although a novice fighter with less than 10 fights, Munday qualified for the championships by virtue of having fought in the open class before.
If she wins her first bout next weekend she will likely go on to fight three-time New Zealand champion Tegan Madden for the title.
