Three out of three for Kerikeri fighters

Three wins from three fights for the three young fighters representing the Kaeo Boxing Club at the Supercity Boxing Gym tournament in Manukau last Saturday was an impressive result for their trainer Rusty Porter.

Porter was pleased with the 100 per cent strike rate from his three proteges, all Kerikeri High School students, at the event which hosted 19 bouts featuring fighters from clubs from around Auckland, as far south as Napier and as far north as Kaeo.

First up for the (Waipapa-based) Kaeo club in the third bout was novice Kyle Chen (13 years old, 69kg) up against fellow novice Caleb Glew from School of Boxing in West Auckland (15, 69kg).

"Although Caleb was older, Kyle was a lot fitter and used this to his advantage by changing angles and punishing Caleb with hard straight punches to [eventually] win by a unanimous points decision."

Next out for Kaeo in bout 14 was the experienced Blake Hodges, also of Kerikeri (16, 70kg), up against Hayden Lewis of TKO Boxing Gym from Tauranga (19, 75kg). Porter admitted to being a tad concerned as Lewis was heavier and older.

"I spoke to Blake and his dad, but Blake had already made up his mind and wanted to fight. Hayden looked to be carrying a lot of bulky muscle so I told Blake to keep moving and jabbing from different angles. First round I saw Hayden start to tire towards the end of the round so I asked Blake to box him halfway through then go forward and fight him in the second half and it worked, with Blake landing three hard right hands on Hayden and the ref putting an 8 count on Hayden," said Porter, noting Hodges did the same in third round, winning by unanimous points decision.

Last but not least out for Kaeo Boxing in bout 18 was Zander Kriel (18, 87kg) enjoying his second fight, against Ryan Schmitz from the TKO Boxing Gym, in Tauranga (23, 89kg) who was experiencing his first fight.

"Zander fought strong-hitting Ryan with hard punches which took its toll in the second round with the ref putting an 8 count on Ryan. Round 3 saw Zander do exactly the same to come away with a unanimous points decision also."

Porter congratulated the three Kerikeri lads and thanked the boxers' parents and the other KBC gym members who helped prepare the boys for the various tournaments.

Watch the fight between Kyle Chen and Caleb Glew here: