Winston Hill clinched the Asia Pacific IBO belt on Saturday night at Prince Charles Park in Nadi by defeating Australia’s Jyl Wright via TKO in the ninth round.
Wright’s corner threw in the towel to protect their boxer from Hill’s powerful punches.
Hill expressed his gratitude to the lord Jesus Christ for his victory.
“All glory to Jesus Christ, I made active decision to put Jesus first in everything I do,” Hill said.
He discussed the challenges he faced during his training, highlighting the limited sparring opportunities with only Daniel Whippy available, leading to just 20 sparring sessions over eight weeks.
” I came with a lot of emotions, training was difficult.
“It was challenging because I did not have much sparing partners. It was only Daniel Whippy that was there from day one and we only had 20 spar in our eight weeks of training,” Hill said.
Despite these difficulties, Hill remained determined to prove that Fiji could achieve greatness even with limited resources, drawing inspiration from Sakaraia Ve’s legacy.
Hill admitted feeling nervous before the fight but channelled his fear into performance, emphasising his concern for his opponent’s well-being.
“To tell you the truth, I was scared going to the ring for this fight just like during my Amateur days till now, I still get butterflies in my stomach. I still have that fear but tonight was different it was the fear of either of us not stepping out of the ring.
“I’m glad that his corner saw how he was performing and getting those punches and decided to throw in the towel because it was sad for me to see Wright getting punished. I wanted him to go home safely,” Hill added.
Wright acknowledged his shortcomings in the match.
” It’s boxing and that’s what happens when you don’t execute what you need,” Wright said.
