Four Northland teenagers will be in action at the 108th Boxing New Zealand national championships, at Hornby Working Men's Club in Christchurch this weekend.
United Boxing Gym's Reece Birmingham will contest the Junior Boys 63kg division and his trainer Ricci Malcolm was confident he would perform well, taking a step up
from the cadet division which he won in 2009.
"He won his division at last year's New Zealand Championships, so I rate his chances pretty highly," Malcolm said.
It will not be an easy task for the 15-year-old, who has six fighters aged between 15 and 17 from around the country contesting the same title. With so many competitors in his division, Birmingham faces the possibility of fighting three bouts during the three day tournament.
"Reece has gotten a lot taller and we can't keep in that 57kg division anymore ... so he's up against older guys - but he is older now and stronger," Malcolm said.
"We know he has beaten one of the guys Tyler Jeffries from Te Awamutu already this year but we haven't seen who the other competitors are yet, so we will see how he goes."
Birmingham's fellow clubmate Brad Day will take on the 64kg Youth Boys class - yet another level above the Junior Boys category, for boxers aged between 17 and 19.
"It will be tough, as Brad has only just turned 17 and will probably be the least experienced in that division with only around 17 fights to his name," Malcolm said.
"Many of the boys have fought around 100 fights ... but he has been training hard and has improved a lot."
Also competing at the Boxing NZ Nationals is the Whangarei Boxing Gym pairing of Deanne Carpenter (57kg) and Kaylah Munday (62kg). Both girls are trained by Tim Bowman and are contesting the Junior Girls category.
Bouts got under way at the nationals last night and continue today , with finals being fought tomorrow.
