Unbeaten Northland boxer Mea Motu is preparing for her biggest fight yet, against former WBC World Bantamweight Champion Usanakorn Thawilsuhannawang on Friday night. Photo / Supplied
Unbeaten Northland boxer Mea Motu is preparing for her biggest fight yet, against former WBC World Bantamweight Champion Usanakorn Thawilsuhannawang on Friday night. Photo / Supplied
Unbeaten Northland boxer Mea Motu (13-0) returns to the ring on Friday night to take on former WBC World Bantamweight Champion Usanakorn Thawilsuhannawang (16-2) at Auckland's ABA Stadium in an eight-round featherweight contest.
The fight is the latest step in Motu's campaign for a world title shot and this will be a big move forward if she gets past the impressive Thai.
It will be Motu's toughest opponent so far, and soon after that she will be flying to Dubai to compete in her first overseas pay-per-view event.
The 32-year-old Motu's most recent appearance inside the ropes was in August when she defeated Thawilsuhannawang's compatriot Thanchanok Phanan via TKO. However, Thawilsuhannawan is a different calibre of fighter to Phanan.
Northland boxer Mea Motu shows the form that won her a fourth-round TKO against Thai featherweight Thanchanok Phanan in August. Photo / Photosport
The 33-year-old Thai has 15 knockout wins to her name and is known for her explosive fighting style. Her only losses were via decision and came against world champions, so a win over Thawilsuhannawang would be Motu's most high-profile victory to date.
Motu has earned herself a reputation as one of the pound-for-pound hardest-hitting female boxers competing, and she's excited about the opportunity to trade leather with someone who has scaled the heights of professional boxing.
"I'm finally fighting someone that's got experience. She has been fighting for over 10 years. So she's been in the ring; she's won a world title," Motu says.
"She'll try to meet fire with fire, but everyone always tries to meet fire with fire. They underestimate my power. So I think once she feels my power, she's going to back off, and I'll put her to sleep."
Sharing the spotlight with Motu on Friday will be her Peach Boxing stablemate Jerome Pampellone (13-0). The 26-year-old will fight in the evening's co-main event against Thailand's Thoedsak Sinam (18-9), the WBC Asian Light Heavyweight Champion.
Motu and Pampellone are steadily climbing the world rankings, and while they may train day in and day out together, fighting on the same night as Pampellone is something that Motu does not take for granted. Especially as both fighters will probably soon be competing overseas for the foreseeable future,
"It's cool. I started off sharing my first pro debut with Jerome. So having me and Jerome back in the ring again on the same night means heaps because I started with Jerome," Motu says.
Motu and Pampellone, along with teammates David Light and Andrei Mikhailovich, are all ranked in the world's top 15 in their respective divisions. It is a phenomenal achievement for a gym that started on the back deck of head trainer Isaac Peach's house.
Three weeks after Friday night's fight, Mea Motu will be jetting to Dubai for her first overseas pay-per-view event. Photo / Supplied
"I'm lucky I've got this. There are four future world champions here. We're all in the top 15, and it's amazing," Motu says.
"It just shows the craft of our coaches; our two coaches, Isaac and Boaz [Peach], shows that what they're doing is correct because, tell me, what coaches have four future world champions in one gym?"
Following Friday's fight against Thawilsuhannawang, Motu will begin training for her first fight on international soil when she takes on undefeated Iranian boxer Nastaran Fathi (7-0) in Dubai, UAE, on November 26 - a WBC title is set to be on the line.
"It's exciting, three weeks then bang! I am back in the ring again. It's what I love doing," Motu says.
