Waikato boxer Greer Hall (right) fought Brooke Miller of Masterton recently. Hall is now among a team of 11 fighters from Waikato who are competing in Australia this week.
Waikato boxer Greer Hall (right) fought Brooke Miller of Masterton recently. Hall is now among a team of 11 fighters from Waikato who are competing in Australia this week.
A team of New Zealand boxers, including 11 from Waikato, are competing at the Queensland International Golden Gloves Tournament this week, a qualifying event for the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
All 11 competitors from Waikato will have plenty to fight for: three of them are competing in the elite division (CommonwealthGames qualifyer) and the other boxers who compete in the Under-19, U17 and U15 categories are hoping to get some great experience under their belts.
The fighters competing at the tournament from July 14-19 include Stephanie Trotter (Elite, 80kg), Hira Pulham (Novice, 90+ kg), Riley Philburn (U17, 52 kg), Zen Parker (U17, 60kg), Asma Nabizadeh (U15, 60 kg) and Tangaroa Holman-Lee (13), all from Nabby’s Boxing Gym in Hamilton.
Greer Hall (Elite, 54 kg) and Caruso Nedia Ford (U17, 66kg), both of Hamilton’s Hit Fitness HQ, Putāruru Ace Fighters Saskia Elliott (Elite, 60kg) and Lleyton Jones (U17, 70kg) and Connor Campbell (U19, 65kg), of Nukis Boxing Gym, Taupō, will also fight in Australia.
The boxers hoping to be elected for the Commonwealth Games are Trotter, Hall and Elliott.
Trotter, a 2020 New Zealand national amateur champion, has recently taken some time away from the ring, but is now back and hoping to make her mark.
Hall is currently ranked No 1 in New Zealand on Boxrec in the Featherweight division.
She has accomplished a lot in her career, including winning gold at the 2024 Australian Golden Gloves, gold at the New Zealand National Boxing Championships in the youth division and claiming bronze at the 2024 World U19 Championships.
Meanwhile, Elliott is a former New Zealand national amateur champion.
She is currently ranked No 2 in New Zealand on Boxrec in both the amateur and professional boxing divisions, after making her pro debut in May this year, beating Toni Moki.
Among the other boxers who are not competing for Commonwealth Games selection are a few standouts.
Waikato boxer Caruso Nedia Ford (U17, 66kg) of Hamilton’s Hit Fitness HQ.
Campbell, a six-time New Zealand national amateur champion, is ranked in the top 50 in the world and No 1 in New Zealand on Boxrec. He also took home a gold medal from the 2023 OCBC Youth & Junior Oceanic Championships.
Ford is a former New Zealand national amateur champion and very experienced, with over 20 amateur fights on the clock.
At the Australian Golden Gloves, he reached the finals twice, in 2023 and 2024, and earned high praise from trainer Cairo George.
Parker, Nabizadeh and Holman-Lee are also some exciting boxers to watch.
Parker recently won the North Island Golden Gloves championships, Nabizadeh is currently undefeated with a record of 7-0 as an amateur, while Holman-Lee has reached the finals of the Australian Golden Gloves back in 2022.
Benjamin Watt is a retired boxing judge and New Zealand boxing writer with a decade of experience. Watt has also been BoxRec’s New Zealand record-keeper since 2014.
