Whangarei Boxing Gym's Deanne Carpenter received a lucky boost when organisers of the heavyweight clash between New Zealand's David Tua and American Demetrice King asked her to fight on the undercard this Saturday.
Carpenter was crowned the Junior Girls light welterweight 60kg national champ after defeating her club mate Kaylah Mundayat last year's NZ Boxing Titles in September and she will face Auckland boxer Nicky Arnold at TelstraClear Pacific Events Centre on Saturday afternoon ahead of the main event later that evening.
The 15-year-old Kamo High School student was delighted with the request to fight at such a prestigious event and said up for the challenge and ready to face Arnold, who boxes out of the Shane Cameron-owned Northside Bowing Gym once again.
It was even more exciting, as there is not many female boxers in New Zealand and organising bouts is often difficult.
The pair are the same age, have fought each other several times, and are evenly matched, Carpenter's coach Tim Bowman said.
"Both girls have one win and one loss each from their previous fights, so it's fairly even and it should be a good fight," Bowman said.
Carpenter recently fought 18-year-old national youth champion Tegan Madden at a contest in Auckland and just lost to the Christchurch boxer.
It was the first time the pair had met, and despite losing, the close fight against the more experienced fighter, who was selected to represent New Zealand at next month's AIBA Women's Junior/Youth World Boxing Championships in Turkey, boosted Carpenter's belief in herself.
"Deanne has been training really well lately and is looking sharp for the fight," Bowman said. Carpenter said she felt confident about Saturday night and was fighting fit.
Meanwhile, former No1 heavyweight contender Tua begins his eagerly anticipated return in South Auckland, on Saturday when he will go up against King in a 12-round title bout.
The fight will be on Maori TV and will be broadcast live across the Pacific.
This is Tua's first fight back since his controversial draw against Monty Barrett in July, 2010 in Atlantic City.
