Mea Motu ‘gunning for a world title’ after stopping first international opponent

Mea Motu blew away her first international opponent on Friday night as the unbeaten Kiwi boxer continues her relentless pursuit of a world title.

Motu scored a fourth-round TKO wn over Thailand’s Thanchanok Phanan at Auckland’s ABA Stadium to move to 13-0 as a professional with six knockouts.

The 32-year-old – who won a record-breaking fourth national title earlier this year – overwhelmed her brave Thai rival with a relentless body attack, forcing the referee to step in and end the punishment when Phanan stopped throwing back.

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The fight was fought at the featherweight limit of 126lbs, just above Motu’s natural super bantamweight division, where she plans to target a world title.

She hopes to secure a shot against Tauranga-born, Australia-based Cherneka ‘Sugar Neekz’ Johnson (14-1, 6 KOs), who holds the IBF super bantamweight belt, in the near future.

“I went four rounds, and she was strong, really tough”, Motu told Te Ao Māori News after her statement victory. “She could take my power – most people can’t take my power.

“That fourth round I was kicking [on] and felt like I [had] just grabbed another win. To finish like that I was kind of gutted because I wanted to go the rounds, but it was finished like that because she just wasn’t fighting back.”

Motu told Stuff last week that it had been “really stressful” finding opponents during the pandemic when New Zealand’s borders were closed, forcing her to jump between weight classes in search of competition.

She said she would be willing to travel to Australia to challenge Johnson and hoped to lock in the fight with her fellow Māori before the end of the year.

”Now that I know I can make super bantam, I’m definitely gunning for a world title,” Motu said. “’Sugar Neekz’ [Johnson] is the one who holds the IBF Mea Motu ‘gunning for a world title’ after stopping first international opponent, she’s the No 1 I’m gunning for at the moment.

“Just willing to fight anyone, and get my rankings up. And the No 1 goal has always been a world title.”

Motu is ranked 10th in the IBF’s super featherweight world rankings. She is part of trainer Isaac Peach’s stable that also includes Commonwealth Games silver medallist David Light (18-0, 11 KOs), rising cruiserweight Jerome Pampellone (13-0, 7 KOs) and middleweight sensation Andrei Mikhailovich (19-0, 11 KOs).