Kaitaia boxer Mea "The Nightmea" Motu has won her second national title and is to challenge for an Australian national title as her quest for a world title shot continues.
Motu continued her rise up the boxing ranks over the weekend after capturing her second New Zealand title. The Isaac Peach-trained fighter earned a unanimous decision win over Christchurch's Michaela Jenkins on Saturday night at Auckland's ABA Stadium to claim the NZPBC super lightweight belt.
Motu will now face the undefeated Australian Rebecca Hawker for the WBC Australasian super bantamweight title, and a win in that fight will be a major step towards her achieving a shot at a world title in the future.
Motu, who is also the NZPBA lightweight champion, and Jenkins had previously fought in May, a bout that Motu also won via unanimous decision. However, Saturday's encounter proved to be a different affair to the first meeting, with both fighters acknowledging each other's strengths and doing their best to control the fight on their own terms.
Motu, fighting four divisions above her natural weight class of super bantamweight, looked to avoid being worn down in the clinch by Jenkins' superior height and weight advantage. At the same time, having previously sampled Motu's impressive punching power, Jenkins was careful not to be on the receiving end of any thundering shots in the opening exchanges from "The Nightmea".