Maka adds spice to fight night

FIGHT TIME: Deanne Carpenter will be one of three Northlanders on the fight card for Boxing Explosion 3, to be held at the ASB Leisure Centre on June 14. PHOTO/JOHN STONE

Boosting the fight card for the international Boxing Explosion 3 event in Whangarei in two weeks is this week's confirmation that Wellsford's Magan Maka will box at the Commonwealth Games.

Maka is on the fight card for the event, which is yet to be confirmed due to a weigh-in being required, which is to be held at the ASB Leisure Centre, much to the delight of organisers.

The Whangarei Boxing Gym has gone out on a limb to host Mexico, Tahiti, the United States and New Zealand on June 14 for the event. But owner Tim Bowman has told the Advocate Northlanders have come out in support, with only a handful of ringside tables left.

Maka will be one of seven Commonwealth Games-qualified boxers in Whangarei - including New Zealand's first ever female Olympic boxer Alexis Pritchard, who fought at the London Olympics and will accompany Maka to Glasgow for the Games in July.

Bowman has a couple of secret weapons up his sleeve for the event - local boxers Deanne Carpenter and Josh Bowman, who are both national champions.

"This is real boxing," Bowman said. "The local boy Josh is pretty popular with a lot of people and is an exciting fighter, and that'll be on display on the night.

"There's not that many 75kg fighters around who can take his punching, he's very strong."

Come fight time, Bowman thinks it will all become real for him but his hopes from the night are simple.

"I think I'll just be more than happy on the day, in all the lead-up to it there are a lot of problems.

"[But] it is a really good sport, I love it. I'd hope for sold-out event too. There has been a bit of interest from local companies but nobody is saying 'here's some money, we want a table', they're not really ready to buy now."

For people who want to get in on the action, 10-person ringside corporate tables are available for $1200 or there are $30 tickets available for adults and $10 each for kids. To book a table or find out more, contact Tim on 027 333 3453.