Taking to Globox Arena in Kirikiriroa Hamilton the 36-year-old faces the hardest puncher of her career to date in Nigeria’s Bolatito Oluwole, who boasts an undefeated 9-0 record.
After a stretch of six fights and three titles, Daniels’ break from fighting wasn’t on her terms.
Injury setback and lock on her contract meant her last fight was when she retained her Light Heavyweight title with a majority decision win over Australian Desley Robinson in December 2023, but the Northlander tells the Herald the break has her rested and raring to go for Saturday.
“Three days out from my next fight I’m grateful for that time that I’ve had and I think things couldn’t have worked out better for me in terms of my career.”
Since that fight in December, Daniels, who was a two-division world champion, was forced to vacate one of her titles. Daniels’ management was notified by the IBF that their regulations prohibited holding world titles in two different weight divisions simultaneously.
Overcoming that setback, coupled with the contract issues and injury meant that Daniels had to learn the power of patience, but her comeback is in a place that has been a major part of her life.
Lani Daniels celebrates retaining the IBF Light Heavyweight World Title. Photo / Photosport
Fighting in Hamilton is a homecoming of sorts for Daniels as the city is where she began her boxing career as an amateur, winning three New Zealand titles as well as spending time working as a mental health nurse.
“I’ve spent at least eight years of my life in Hamilton, I have heaps of whānau, heaps of connections. I did my nursing studies down there, I worked down there as my first nursing job.
“It’s pretty cool to be able to come back and I still have connections down there with people that saw me at the beginning of my journey and they’ll see the ten to 12 years that I’ve been doing it on end off, how far the sport has taken me.”
That homecoming couldn’t be juxtaposed more with the situation of her challenger. When the IBF declared 22-year-old Oluwole the mandatory challenger for Daniels’ world title, it signalled the first time the Nigerian would fight outside her homeland.
Oluwole is the Nigerian national cruiserweight champion, one of just three female national cruiserweight champions worldwide. She comes with a reputation as a power puncher, with five knockouts in her nine fights.
“From what I’ve seen, she has sound basics, she hits hard and she’s in a position where she’s wanting to prove herself. It’s going to be a fight,” says Daniels.
The reputation that proceeds her is something that Daniels is aware of, yet she says she has a simple approach to handling it.
“It’s simple, really. A power punch is only a problem if it hits you. So, my thought is don’t be there.”
In other action at the event, Joseph Parker’s younger brother, John, takes on Fiji’s Alivereti Kauyaca for the WBA Oceania Cruiserweight title - the winner of that bout to begin making a claim for a top-15 WBA ranking.
International Charity Fight Night card, 7 September, Globox Arena, Kirikiriroa Hamilton
Will Toogood is an online sports editor for the NZ Herald. He enjoys watching people chase a ball around on a grass surface so much he decided to make a living out of it.
