Boxing: Maydad Ronen back with belt and advice for youth

Maydad Ronen returned to Rotorua during the weekend to hold a boxing workshop at Gold's Health and Fitness. Photo/Stephen Parker

Maydad Ronen knows what it is like to fight for your dreams.

Ronen is a two-time masters division champion in boxing and owns his own boxing gym in Bondi (Sydney).

The Israeli-born Australian boxer spent fours year living in Rotorua, working at a local gym, before moving back home to Sydney in 2003.

After moving back to Australia, Ronen decided to give boxing another crack following a 21-year break out of the ring.

A serious back injury had kept him out of the sport for a long period of time but Ronen set his heart on returning to the ring.

"I was out of the ring for 21 years and I decided to make a comeback," he said. "It went from a small dream to a very big dream to a dream come true."

In 2012, at age 42, he fought for a vacant UBC featherweight masters title in Sydney.

He fought with a shoulder injury and won in a unanimous decision to claim his first masters' boxing title. Ronen said it was the hardest fight he has ever had.

"It was very emotional, very beautiful. It was something words can't describe, like the birth of my kids ... it was amazing."

One year later he was at it again, this time in the WBF Super Bantamweight masters division, where he won in the fifth round of a title fight.

"It was a dream come true."

Nowadays, Ronen is more focused on being a good father to his two kids aged 3 and 6 and a good husband to his wife Linda.

"My dream now is to be the best father I can be. I have 100 kids running around at the gym and two legitimate children that are mine," he said.

Ronen held a boxing workshop at Gold's Health and Fitness in Rotorua on Saturday, which attracted a small group of local fighters and trainers including well-known Rotorua trainer Rex Jenkins.

"[I want to show people] that anything is possible, it doesn't matter what chips are down. The body will take you so far but the mind will take you places the body can't," he said.

Ronen still has a lot of friends in Rotorua and said he hoped to visit again in the future to inspire and teach local boxers.

Gold's Health and Fitness owner Steve Gardiner said Ronen was a great teacher and he learned a lot from watching him on Saturday. "He is a genuine guy and has a lot of love for people," Gardiner said. "He was excited to come over to share and do whatever he could to help [our local fighters]."