Boxer Sheilla Yama faces Rishon Harris in Auckland bout this weekend

Hamilton-based boxer Sheilla Yama won a gold medal at the Sol2023 Pacific Games. She is pictured with trainer Cairo George.

Hamilton boxer Sheilla Yama will take on Rishon Harris, of Queenstown, in a “keep busy fight” in Auckland this weekend.

Yama is currently undefeated in her professional boxing career with four wins, one of them was by way of knockout.

However, this has caused some issues for her trainer and manager Cairo George, as he has struggled to find an opponent.

The Hamiltonian was originally booked to fight in Australia recently but the event was eventually cancelled as no one wanted to fight Yama.

She last fought in June at the BX-9 event, where she took on Australian fighter Louise Creaven for the PBC International Super Lightweight title.

Yama dominated and won, which pushed her into the top 20 in the world on BoxRec.

With the victory, she clinched her first professional boxing title.

With such a dominant performance, Yama has become one of the most feared boxers in New Zealand, which has forced promoters to start seeking international opponents for her.

While Harris, whom Yama will take on this Saturday, is from Queenstown, her background is in combat sports rather than that area’s prominent outdoor action sports.

She will come into the fight as an underdog because she is an experienced kickboxer who has dabbled in amateur and corporate boxing in the past.

She also had some success in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, where she has won silver medals in competitions.

The Yama v Harris bout will take place on November 8 at 4pm at Netball Manurewa, 95 Browns Rd, Auckland.

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.