Tonga’s first female Olympic boxer Fe’ofa’aki ‘Epenisa (28) aka Aki, has arrived in France to represent Tonga at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in the women’s 60kg categoryon 27 July.
Aki's journey in boxing started in her last year of college in the US, but boxing was introduced to her as a child in Vava‘u.
“My Dad was a boxer, his name was Lineni ‘Epenisa, so boxing, he kinda introduced it to my brother and I when we were little in Vava’u.”
Sadly, her father died when she was young. When she was about 8 years old., Aki left Tonga and went to live in the United States.
There, she played rugby during her college years until she decided to do boxing in her third and final year.
In 2019 she returned to Tonga to try and make the Tonga team for the Pacific Games in Samoa. But first she had to smash a few barriers and sterotypes, before she was accepted. Aki had her first fight and debut for Tonga at the 2019 Pacific Games at Samoa.
"I remember during that journey, I told Mataele Funaki, who was the President of Tonga Boxing at the time, that I really wanted to go to the Olympics.
"I just started boxing, I hadn’t even had my first fight yet for Tonga. And I said, that I wanted him to believe in me, to stand up for me."
Aki told Matangi Tonga that after her father passed away and her brother was often away picking fruit in Australia, she didn’t have a male figure to support her when she came back to Tonga.
"You know how it is in Tonga when you’re around older men, there’s like a certain respect," she said.
Making the Tonga team
Aki shared how she felt that was being overlooked by the head coach during training, because she came from overseas. "Pita, he didn’t wanna talk to me, because he just thought I was a girl from overseas, since I've lost my Tongan.
"It was very intimidating to get my feet in the door because nobody knew who I was at the time; they didn’t know I was actually from Tonga; they were questioning my citizenship at one point. They had me talking with Lord Vaea, and the coach Pita, with Mataele - we were all standing in a circle. It was kind of intimidating because again, I didn’t have a male figure, they were, like, asking who I was."
Aki said that as she introduced herself as being from Vava’u, and told them that her father was Lineni ‘Epenisa, Pita started tearing up, "and that’s the first time he actually looked at me. He was telling me my father used to teach him and the local kids.
"After the meeting, with his broken English, he told me he will do what he can to help me, to understand the rules of amateur boxing. So that was my step into being part of the Tongan team, which was nice, because I felt like my father was still awake, guiding me in the process, even though he had passed."
Aki, however, lost her first fight to Samoa in 2019.
"I told myself that I wanted to surpass the Pacific Games and get myself to the Olympics after that. That's how that happens."
Aki said she sacrificed her time with her family and friends, she missed important events such as funerals and birthdays, sacrificing food and sticking to a certain diet and be on top of her training, in order to make it to the Olympics.
The Tonga Association of Sports and National Olympic Committee (TASANOC) announced Aki's selection for the Tonga team on 18 July.
Fe’ofa’aki qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games through a wildcard, or universality, and placed to compete in the lightweight division.
She was a silver medalist at the 2023 Pacific Games, losing to Tina Rahimi (AUS) in the final.
Vava'u raised
Aki grew up in Masilamea in Vava'u to parents Lineni ‘Epenisa and Lesa Reupena, and attended Fangatongo primary school.
Aki's Aunties who helped raising her were from Leimatu'a so she also attended the primary school in Leimatatu’a, before migrating to the US.
She currently trains at her local gym, Pure Technik Boxing in San Antonio in Texas, with coaches Danilo Jacob Garcia and Jeffery Mays and conditioning coach Jesse Coronado.
Fe’ofa’aki ‘Epenisa will compete in the women’s 60kg category, scheduled for 27 July, 04:18 pm, Paris time (Sunday 28 July, 3:18am, Tonga time).
Tonga Team for the 2024 Olympics
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