Lee Kara
You need the mentality of a fighter to think that getting in the ring with a 150kg opponent who wants to take your head off brings the same joy as Christmas morning.
But that was the feeling of Awa Kings Muay Thai president Lee Kara as he packed up the car for Hamilton ahead of today's WKA New Zealand K1 super heavyweight title fight with ETK's Dave Tuitupou in the main event of 'Battle in the Waikato: Round 9'.
The championship bout has been a long held desire for Kara, who was trying to manoeuvre towards a North Island championship match from one of the sport's local sanctioning bodies last year, after he successfully main evented the River City Rumble.
The New Zealand title shot came after he defeated Tiasi Sheck, also from Arsenal ETK gym in Auckland, by unaminous decision on a card in Morrinsville in June.
"I'm feeling excited, bro, like a little kid on Christmas," Kara said on Thursday.
"This has been one of my dreams - to fight for a title."
Kara, who currently weighs around 113kg, is under no illusions of the challenge posed by Tuitupo - holder of both North Island and Central Districts WKA titles who stands 2.04m and could out-weigh him by up to 35-40kg.
Kara needs to hit and run, hoping the bigger Tuitupo will begin to tire in the latter of the three minute rounds.
"He takes up a lot of room in that ring," Kara said.
"I have to drag him into deep water.
"I've been training hard for this one - everything I've been doing is based on this being a five round fight.
"I"ve got the cardio to go the five rounds."
A "battle-hardened" founding father of Awa Kings, Kara would love to bring another New Zealand title back to Whanganui and his club, as combat sports continue to gain a stronger foothold in the town.
"I don't see it as added pressure - if I can inspire my younger members and everyone that looks up to be at the club, that's cool."
Kara will have a lot of supporters from Whanganui and Hamilton at the fight, and plans to livestream the bout on his Facebook page around 10.30pm-11pm.
Meanwhile, Assassins Muay Thai Gym fighter Mike Makatea-Leylander is treating his 4-man 76kg Central Districts tournament like one big five-round title fight - just with a big gap in between the third and fourth rounds.
This week, Makatea-Leylander was working his way through the last 2kg to meet the limit by lunchtime weigh-in, where he will draw lots to see who he faces first out of Robert Tawere (Rhino Fight Club), Sam Watts (Warriors Muay Thai), and Jabez Collins (ROC Taupo).
The first two names drawn will match each other, then the other two face off to find the finalists who will meet just before the main event.
"All four of us are all title holders, for different sanctions. All have belts," said Makatea-Leylander.
"I haven't done a four man before, it's my first time.
"But my last two fights have been five rounds. This is three rounds [per fight]."
A heavy-hitter, Makatea-Leylander likes to throw bombs early and the shorter three-round distance could suit him - as he looks to get on top to either force a stoppage or make it clear-cut who is winning.
"When I fought Aaron [Cole] I got to the end of the third round and thought, 'aw, I've still got two rounds to go'.
"I'm looking at it like a title fight, [but] this time I can let loose all my energy.
"I don't want to 'swing' the judges because I'm not from there. Most of their guys are from there.
"I don't want to lose any rounds."
The tournament semifinals will be the fifth and sixth fights on the 21-fight card and ideally Makatea-Leylander would like to go on first, should he then be victorious.
"It would give me more time to recover and I'll be able to watch the [second] fight. Analyse strengths and weaknesses."
If Makatea-Leylander wins his opening bout and advances to the final, he will be calling on all the knowledge of trainer and mentor Kyle Gallacher to help with his rest and recovery between the fights.
"He's been my biggest help so far, just because he has the experiance behind him."
Like Kara, Makatea-Leylander has car loads of supporters coming from Whanganui and Hamilton, as well as Taranaki.
The show will start around 6pm at the Narrows Landing event venue on Airport Rd.