Boxing: Whanganui's Egelani Taito heading to nationals in Christchurch

Egelani Taito and Eddie Tofa preparing to fly out for the 116th Boxing NZ National Championships in Christchurch this week.

River City Boxing Club's Egelani Taito is hoping for a good four days in Christchurch as he goes for a title at the Boxing NZ 2018 National Championships this week.

The 26-year-old Taito departed from Palmerston North Airport with trainer Eddie Tofa this afternoon to go compete in the 91kg Elite Novice division at the Hornby Club.

Expected to be mixed in with 3-4 other boxers, the competition start Wednesday and finishes on Saturday, with Taito likely needing to win two fights to be crowned champion.

He is the current North Island Golden Gloves champion, having won the title with two 5-0 points wins at the tournament in Taupo back in June.

Taito has had 11-12 fights in his amateur career, with 10 required before you can qualify for nationals.

Clubmate Jesse Malcolm had also qualified for Hornby, but has other commitments.

With nine active fighters, River City hopes to send a bigger contingent to the 2019 nationals, which will be held in Napier.

They will be putting on their own tournament at the end of October.