Junior Fa wins NZPBA title [1]
Sunday, March 19, 2017 - 21:47. Updated on Tuesday, March 28, 2017 - 17:12.
Junior Fa has won his first belt, the New Zealand Professional Boxing Association title, after defeating Daniel Tai by majority decision. Veteran boxer Daniel Tai proved to be a tough opponent, going the distance with Fa in an exhausting 10 rounds bout. The win extends Junior's undefeated record to 11 wins.
The title win is an important step for Junior Fa as he continues his progress up the boxing ladder. Some fans, however, were disappointed that Junior Fa did not knockout Tai.
Post-fight Junior Fa said "I wasn't really glad with my performance last night, but I knew that this was probably the best fighter that I have fought to date right now, and I know that this was the weakest that I've been going into a fight."
"I'm quite happy with myself that I mentally kept that on mind, and I tried not to rush things, and I kept to the plan."
Junior Fa explained that the quick turn-around of his recent bouts contributed to him being hurt in training. His fight against Tai, being a few weeks since his Ferbruary fight against Keith Barr.
Junior Fa said "The past few weeks have been really hard, we basically didn't know we were fighting until the Thursday before the fight, which was just a couple of days ago."
"With the very quick turn around of the two fights being so close together, I actually hurt myself in training. And with this injury, I actually wasn't going to fight...But than since I have such a great team, we all came together and we were all ready to take this risk."
Despite his tough workout with Tai, Junior Fa was grateful for the learning experience.
"Mentally i'm very grateful that I got through this fight...This was a mental learning experience for me, because physically I really wasn't there, there was half of me there."
"From now on it's just about getting higher and higher. Trying to get more bouts, trying get higher rankings, and also building myself mentally for the tougher challenges that will take place in the near future."
"Please, please continue to support me. Because I am going to get to the top, one thing with me is that I'm always learning."