Boxers bag SI titles

Two athletes from the Marlborough Boxing Club travelled to south Christchurch recently for the South Island boxing champs and both came away with titles.

Rogene Daquioag won the under 60kg junior open grade while Issac King prevailed in the 93kg+ super heavyweight division.

The event was hosted by the Woolston Boxing Club with 60 bouts on Saturday and 30, mostly finals, on Sunday.

As there were only two fighters in Rogene’s weight division, he fought a straight final on Saturday, against Taylan Prakash from the PBO boxing club in Christchurch. Rogene boxed intelligently, winning unanimously by points decision and taking out all three rounds.

Coach Raymond Madsen said, “Rogene fought smart, following the coach's instructions word for word against a more-experienced boxer. He did himself and our club proud.”

King had two fights. His first opponent was Riki Tofi from Sledgehammer Boxing in Christchurch.

He was a powerful puncher, throwing bombs from the opening bell, but Kong kept his composure, stuck to the game plan and won by a majority points decision. That put him into the finals on Sunday afternoon against another boxer from Christchurch, Alex Powell from Champ Nation Boxing Club, another strong fighter who came out throwing bombs and hooks from the first bell to the last bell.

However, King heeded his corner’s advice, keeping a high guard then hitting and moving with long straight punches. He put an eight count on his opponent near the final bell and the judges awarded him the victory by a unanimous decision.