Timaru Muay Thai fighter Kaitlyn ‘‘The Tornado’’ Tucker has toughed it out in Temuka to claim the international lightweight WBC championship.
Taking part in the Muay Thai Royale event at the Temuka Alpine Energy Stadium recently, Tucker went up against Sydney-based opponent Katie-Rose Mitchell.
The fight ultimately went the distance but Tucker had her hand raised in the end, as the judges deemed her the winner by unanimous decision.
Tucker said a lot of work went into preparing for the fight.
‘‘I did a lot of rounds on pads, a lot of running, swimming, air bike, weights — you name it I was doing it to try and get to that peak fitness before the fight.
‘‘I was pulling out all the stops but luckily my team is awesome and they’re always there to motivate me and push me along.
‘‘It was not fun at times, but you totally know it’s worth it.’’
She said she knew a good amount about her Australian opponent but was more focused on herself.
‘‘We had fought at an event together in the past and she has fought one of my past opponents, so we did know a lot about her but we have our own game plan which has worked over the years.
‘‘There [were] a few things we had to tweak and add in with her being a taller opponent, so I had to work around that.’’
Sicking to her game plan was the key to winning the fight, she said.
‘‘I was just making sure I did everything we had been doing [in] training.
‘‘You don’t know if that’s all going to go out the window until you start the fight, but I was pretty happy and I think my coach was as well that I stuck mostly to the plan.
‘‘I did think during the fight that ‘I should be doing this and should be doing that’, but there is just so much going on in your head during fight that it’s easy to over-analyse and be a bit negative.
‘‘I think overall I put on a pretty dominant performance with my output and me taking the fight to her, there was definitely a lot of forward pressure on my behalf.’’
She said this latest win had been 10 years in the making.
‘‘It’s monumental for me. It’s something me and my coach have been working towards for years.
‘‘I didn’t really think I’d get to this level but now I’m here and I just want to get to the top.
‘‘The next step for me is the WBC world title at lightweight. That’s the next goal and it’s basically the pinnacle of the sport.’’
The event was hosted by the Timaru-based Lucky Nine Gym, which Tucker fights out of, and also featured several other local fighters on the card.
James Kaihe and Brooke Reweti picked up wins while Sajin Tamang, Nieya Ronnoco and Te-kohurangi Rasmussen were defeated on the night.
Notably, former Lucky Nine Gym fighter AJ Foster, who now fights out of the Combat Centre in Auckland, picked up the amateur lightweight WBC championships belt by defeating Zion Perry.
The card featured 11 bouts in total, ranging from novice children up to professionals.
Tucker said it was surreal to win the title in Temuka.
‘‘It’s actually really funny because if you told me 10 years ago when I started that I’d be fighting for an international title at Temuka Stadium and I’d win in front of my home town crowd, I’d have just laughed.
‘‘It seems crazy but luckily since our gym was hosting we could make it local.
‘‘I feel really lucky to have had the opportunity to perform at such a high level in front of my local community and to have so much support was pretty incredible.’’
She said her next step would be to take some time to rest and heal her body.
She planned to go travelling abroad but was adamant she would be keeping up her training, even while travelling, to be ready for the next big step in her career.
