Multiple boxing world champion Lani Daniels hopes her new Nelson connections will take her to even greater heights.
The IBF and WBO Super Middleweight Champion enjoyed a five-day stint in Nelson this month, hosted by Victory Boxing founder Paul Hampton.
“Paul actually rang me before I won the unified titles in New York in April. Coming off losing my heavyweight and light heavyweight world titles, he still saw the champion in me for what I had done. He made the effort to bring me down to Nelson as a guest speaker at a Victory Boxing fundraiser,” says the Northlander of Ngāti Hine descent. It proved a timely call as the boxer known as ‘the Silent
Assassin’ beat American Shadasia Green by technical knockout in the 9th of the 10 scheduled rounds at the iconic Madison Square Garden to record the 12th win in her 18th bout.
“The setting was unreal. I honestly felt like a big kid in a candy shop,” enthuses Lani.
It wasn’t a sweet feeling for her opponent though, who was carried out on a stretcher and later revealed she had suffered a brain bleed. “We both knew what we were signing up for, but I had to do a bit of mind work around that,” confirms the 38-year-old.
On to Nelson, where Lani and Paul immediately hit it off and he is now a key part in her inner circle.
“A friend and a guru,” he quips.
“He’s my manager when I am down here. He is the guy doing everything and putting the support around me,” she adds.
Through Paul’s local connections, the reigning world champion has started working with Tasman High Performance strength and conditioning coach Glenn Stewart, and mental health and breathing specialist Jamie O’Donnell.
“Although I am an elite athlete, I have never had elite training in the sense of testing or monitoring. I have been set in my ways for the past eight years and it has always just kind of been a relentless work ethic.
“Coming to Nelson is a reset and with the training I have now, the difficulty will be holding back because I am so used to just smashing myself. This is a structured and scientific plan which is allowing my body to recover so I am not burning out,” explains Lani, who hadn’t done a VO2 max oxygen measuring test before.
She helped out with women’s and Parkinson’s boxing classes at Victory and made a real impact on the locals.
“Everyone loves Lani because of who she is, and she gets on with everybody. She is so humble, I had to convince her to show off her boxing belts,” says Paul.
But she had no qualms about bringing a Northland Taniwha jersey with her since her rampant local team had already dispatched the Tasman Mako in the NPC quarter-finals.
“It is not so much a wind up. I am here to rally support for the Taniwha in the final because we are whānau now. The team has been amazing, and it is so cool we are achieving these results for our kids up there,” declares the church-going Mormon who is related to Northland rugby royalty – the Going family.
“I used to be the only girl in a young boys’ rugby team, a loose forward, and I was named the most promising player,” says Lani, who hails from the rural settlement of Pipiwai, about 40 minutes from Whangarei.
“Blink and you miss it.”
The 1.69m and 76kg athlete is impressed with the Victory Boxing set up and hopes to replicate it close to home.
“We have got those initial blocks in place here, so it is just a matter of keeping in touch,” says Paul.
“I am picking Paul’s brain on how he started up Victory. Boxing is the vehicle to get people in. I am keen on developing a holistic approach with my own gym, with a cultural experience as well. Like the retreats in Bali,” Lani says.
As part of that move, Lani decided not to renew her registration after 12 years as a mental health nurse as she thought she could make more impact through her boxing platform.
While Paul is her go-to-guy in Nelson, it is all about family in Northland.
Her older sister Caroline, also a nurse, has been her manager since her amateur boxing days when she won national titles before her first professional fight in 2017, while her cousin Sonny Henare is her new coach.
“Sonny doesn’t know boxing from a bar of soap, but I noticed when he was in my corner in New York, he knows me. When the spirit starts to float in those championship rounds, he pulls me back to earth,” insists Lani, who followed Daniella Smith and Mea Motu as world boxing champions out of Northland.
So, at 38, how much longer does she see her career extending.
“You are only as old as you feel. I thought I might have only had another year prior to coming to Nelson. I am in discussions with promoters and it is about standing my ground and knowing my worth. It is about taking control of my career with people that have my best interests at heart.”
Speed is her real strength in the ring.
“Boxers struggle to hit me. I am sneaky, reactive, and a think-10-steps-ahead type of fighter. I set my opponents up and draw them in.”
Lani plans to return to her second home away from home later this year and has fired a warning to future rivals.
“A happy Lani is a dangerous Lani,” concludes the fighter with a growing fan base in Nelson and a new Tasman Mako mouthguard.
