Waiheke’s 16-year-old Tama Marshall will take on his fourth opponent at the Auckland Boxing Association on Eden Terrace in the city this Saturday 4 February. With his current record of two wins and one loss (on points), he is well on his way up the ranks in his junior welterweight division.
He will step into the ring well prepared, despite City Kickboxing, his training gym in Auckland, being flooded on Friday 27 January. He and father Duan Marshall ran through his final sparring session in the training facility they have created at home. When your dad is a former kickboxer and coach, even record-breaking weather doesn’t have to get in your way.
Tama’s fighting weight will be 63.5kg, a weight he is able to maintain through careful eating, drinking four litres of water daily and training. He says he needs to drop one kilo before the weekend but it won’t be hard to do. “I’ll be running a bit this week and keeping up with the diet plan so I can be at my peak energy and mindset,” he says.
His goal is to win his fight on Saturday night which will be for three rounds each of two minutes. Following that he wants to quickly organise his next bout. Once he has five fights under his belt he is eligible to compete at the Boxing New Zealand Nationals in Tauranga from 4 to 8 July 2023. Tama is aiming for the north island’s Golden Gloves championships to be held 21 to 23 October 2023. • Sarah Gloyer
