Determination and national pride are the elements that shaped Fijian boxer Ratu Rakuro Daunivavana to claim the Australasian Welterweight title in Brisbane, Australia on Saturday night.<\/p>\n
This is after the Buca Bay Prince defeated his Australian opponent Yungubaddijarri Yanner by technical knock-out (TKO) in the co-event of the NXT boxing promotion.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a great experience,\u201d Daunivavana said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe came with a lot of doubts on our backs, but we got the job done.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added that his camp was secretive about his preparation phase in Australia.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody was shocked, even my family didn\u2019t expect the win,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter the fight, my phone was blowing up with family calling and it\u2019s all hard work paid off.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daunivavana was grateful towards the support he received from the Fijian community in Sydney and Gold Coast.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey showed up and we did what we were training for.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe stuck to the game plan. We\u2019ve been training hard and the hard work paid off.\u201d<\/p>\n
With the Fijian flag draped on Daunivavana\u2019s shoulder in the ring, he was inspired to fight for his country.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a lot of support from people back in Fiji who were hoping that I win the fight and they also supported me financially,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got in the ring, and they motivated me to win the fight.\u201d<\/p>\n
The humble and resilient boxer has been working hard to persevere in his boxing career despite facing so many hurdles in his life.<\/p>\n
Daunivavana lost his mother and son in 2024, but he remains committed to his boxing to honour them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s always obstacles and negativity that will come along the way, but it won\u2019t divert us from the goal,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just do what we love to do, to make the family and nation proud. I couldn\u2019t be happier.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daunivavana intends to change the narrative behind Fijian boxers losing in overseas bouts.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just need to come early, get acclimatised as we are all human beings. We are Fijians who are known for their grit and strength.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daunivavana said winning overseas bouts was possible with determination, focus, and discipline.<\/p>\n
He spent a week in Toowoomba, Queensland before his fight.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have witnessed it in my experience coming into this fight, With the right planning we\u2019ll definitely get the win,\u201d Daunivavana said.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo all the boxers, this belt is not just for me, it\u2019s a pride for the country and motivation for them to ensure that nothing is impossible in terms of winning overseas bouts.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daunivavana dedicated his win to his coaches Osea Nanovu and Nesta Ranuku.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s also for my Grid security and Mahana Pearl family who\u2019s been helping us financially.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo the people of Fiji, this win is for the nation, and I\u2019ve never been proud to represent the blue flag.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Determination and national pride are the elements that shaped Fijian boxer Ratu Rakuro Daunivavana to claim the Australasian…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":722018,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,85],"class_list":["post-722017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boxing","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/722017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=722017"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/722017\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/722018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=722017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=722017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=722017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}