BOXING - Seaside gym packs a decent following

Boxing may have suffered something of a decline in recent years but, in the tiny seaside settlement of Oakura, a new boxing gym is gaining momentum.
The motivation and expertise for the gym project has come from Tim Bowman, who moved to the area four years ago.
"I began to see that the kids around here didn't always have a lot to do and this was a way to give them another sporting option and, at the same time, share my love of boxing with other people," he said.
One thing he didn't have to worry about was promoting the new gym to people, after finding he was the one being approached by people interested in the project.
"It's a close community, everyone's not too far apart from each other and, once the kids started talking about it, that brought everybody else along and that's left me with a permanent group of boxers to work with."
Bowman started boxing at a relatively late age, but was quickly hooked by the sport and boxed for the Whangarei's United Club, which still operates in town. After retiring, Bowman turned to training.
It took some time for him to find a suitable venue, before fixing a fire-damaged shed owned by the Rapana Trust and turning it into a gym which opened its doors around five months ago.
"The trust have been really awesome, we couldn't have done it without them," he said.
"The kids had shown plenty of enthusiasm for the idea, so we just went ahead and did it."
He said most of his boxers played rugby and still regarded it as their main sport but that was not a bother to him.
One of the boxers, Reece Le Vavasour, said it had been pretty hard going up against fighters who had been boxing since they were young but the young club's boxers were beginning to hold their own.
He, like some of the others, began to train with Bowman because he thought it would be good cross-training.
"Yeah, the boxing helps our rugby in every way, with speed, fitness and stamina," he said.
There are 10 boxers who regularly attend the gym and a few more casual members. Some of them have already competed at tournaments around the North Island, while others are still to box in front of judges.
This weekend, some of them get that chance when they compete at the ASB Leisure Centre on Saturday night, where up to 20 bouts will be held. Divisions range from juniors to the feature light-heavyweight bout between New Zealand champion Zig Zag Wallace and Australian champion Matthew Corbett.