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Home / Northern Advocate / Sport

History-making victory a shock

Northern Advocate
19 Nov, 2010 07:00 PM2 mins to read

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It's fairly easy to see that Daniella Smith is still getting used to the idea of being New Zealand's first female boxing world champion.
Smith returned from Germany on Monday with the IBF World Champion belt after beating world champion, Germany's Jennifer Retzke, in Berlin on Saturday.
Talk of mounting her first defence early next year has already been bandied around.
"If it all goes to plan it will be here in New Zealand, which once again will be a history-making event for the country," she said.
"There are a few things already in the pipeline but I can't really say anything about it at this stage but it will be possible to defend my New Zealand title ... sorry my world title, here in New Zealand," she laughed.
After apologising for the slip of the tongue, she excused her by saying she had just woken up from a nap, after giving herself a couple of days off to recover from the life-changing win.
She said it was still hard for her to realise that she had achieved her goal.
"Things have changed for me but the fact that I'm world champion is still pretty overwhelming, but I've had a few days to let it soak in.
"I certainly went there with the intention of becoming world champion but nothing prepares you for what happens after you have won; it's accepting this new feeling that can be difficult - at the same time it's really quite amazing."
The 38-year-old mother of two said few people have ever been remotely interested in her life to this point but that has changed since winning the title.
"I knew all my family and friends and everyone at the gym would be happy for me but I didn't realise how much public interest it would generate, so it's a bit mind-blowing for me to realise people are interested in my life.
"There's been quite a lot of interest, which has really surprised me, but it's really new territory for me."
The fact that she will be boxing as the first ever female New Zealand champion means that there should be plenty of interest in promoting the title defence.
A party will be held tonight at Boxing Alley in Parnell to help her celebrate the victory before plans to host her first defence get under way.

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