There was no shortage of boxing action over the weekend with Fijian boxer Mikaele Ravalaca flying the country’s flag in Australia’s Big Time Boxing Promotions.
Ravalaca stunned the crowd as he defeated Ziyee Lee on split decision at the Melbourne Pavilion on Saturday night.
The Ra lad fuelled by the passion of proving that Fijian boxers can make the world stage, sent Lee to his knees twice in the six-round bout.
Ravalaca’s corner erupted into celebration as two of three judges scored in his favour.
While this may seem like an ordinary win to anyone, it meant so much more to Ravalaca and his trainer Peteresio Ranuku.
“I can only thank God for giving me the strength, the confidence and the knowledge to step into the ring and fight. I fought to change perspectives about Fijian boxers, our boxers getting knocked out in overseas fights is now a thing of the past. I wanted to show that boxers from Fiji can reach the pinnacle of the sport,” Ravalaca stated in an interview with this newspaper.
The no-nonsense boxer showed a glimpse of what he is capable of as he now eyes more fights and improvement in his world ranking.
“My opponent went down in the first and second round and eventually lost. They initially said it was going to be a title fight, but I did not get a belt after my victory. I won’t let that be a distraction because I clearly won the fight and there are bigger things that I’m planning to achieve,” he added.
Before this fight, his trainer Ranuku who is commonly known as Nesta gave Ravalaca a timely reminder.
“We told Mika that right now in his position he holds the key to other Fijian boxers getting a shot overseas. There’s a negative reputation about Fijian boxers here and we want to change that, this win is a stepping stone towards that,” Nest shared.
Ravalaca thanked the faithful in his corner for their support particularly to his sponsor Fresh’et International Limited.
