Three Kāpiti boxers impress at competition

Michael Reynolds, left, and Toby Jensen.

A trio of Kāpiti boxers stood out at a prestigious competition. But, as Kapiti Boxing Club coach Chris Barnden writes, it wasn't just their boxing skills which caught the eye.

Over Labour weekend New Zealand Boxing held the North Island Golden Gloves Boxing Competition in Taupo.

Kāpiti was represented by three boxers - Michael Reynolds, Toby Jensen and Ruben Fa'apo.

I say they represented the coast rather than our gym (Kapiti Boxing Gym) because it has been a long-held belief that if we coach young men and women to be better people and care about others in the community then we help to set them up both in sports and life in general.

The team left on Friday afternoon under the guidance of head coach Richard Fleetwood alongside coaches Carl Johnson, Ivan Stevenson and Andy Adam.

The results showed they could not have been in better hands, all three going on to win their titles respectively, Michael having to fight twice, Ruben won unopposed and Toby picking up the coveted, most scientific boxer.

Christopher Barnden, left, with Ruben Fa'apo.

While the results would be the highlight for most clubs, mine came at three separate times over the course of the weekend.

I rang Toby at 8pm Saturday night to gauge how he was feeling, expecting him to be relaxing, watching television or listening to music as his fight wasn't until Sunday afternoon.

He answered explaining he couldn't talk for long as he and Richard were doing a light workout and going over the fight plan, tick one for the coaching staff.

The other two occasions came the following day and help to verify the gym's ethos.

While waiting at the back of the hall to be called to the ring for his title fight I watched as Michael took the time to applaud the two boxers in the ring as their result was given.

At that moment any sportsperson could have been forgiven for concentrating on nothing but themselves, instead he took time for others, tick two.

And anyone who knows Toby would know he is a very caring young man who is always there to help others, so his response to my text message after his win was not a surprise but another example of why I believe he will continue to go on to be a fantastic member of our community.

I gave him a 10 out of 10 for his performance, his only reply was simply "it's thanks to the coaches".

Again putting others first, from my own point of view all three of these young men were champions long before the first bell rang.