Whangarei boxer Telea Kask suffered the second defeat of her career when she was out-pointed by Australian Sky Nicolson at the Pro Am International Boxing tournament at Auckland Boxing Stadium on Friday.
Although beaten 14-4 in the three-round fight , the Whangarei 14-year-old began to narrow the gap between the two
boxers in the final round.
Kask weighed in at 48kg and has fought just six bouts in her short career, while the Queenslander, although the same age, has already fought 17 bouts.
Nicolson was almost a head taller and 4kg heavier, and the Whangarei boxer struggled in the first two rounds to get close enough to score - kept at bay by Nicolson's' long right jab and left cross.
Kask began to get inside her opponent in the final round, only losing by one point, 3-4, but it was too late by then. The Queensland State selection saw 11 boxers matched up against a New Zealand selection from Auckland, Waikato, North Harbour and Northland.
The New Zealanders only won two bouts.
Aucklander Marea Motu-Gemmell defeated Monica Siemoniek in the elite female bantamweight division. North Harbour's Nick Charaloupas defeated Josh Diab of Australia in youth welter-weight - also by points decision.
The ABA was almost packed out to capacity, with the main event on the card a professional cruiserweight national title bout.
Auckland's Soulan Pownceby defeated fellow Aucklander Bob Gasio, with the fight stopped in the third round as Pownceby easily outclassed Gasio.
Like many other Northland boxers, Kask will be competing in the Northland Amateur Boxing Tournament on Saturday at Kensington Stadium.
