(NOV 26)  Taranaki own Tania Reid had the fight of her career over the weekend taking on Australian boxer Rachel Loder for the historic Australasian Lightweight title.

The Australasian title was first fought for in 1887 with the first bout between Jack Hall and Torpedo Billy Murphy for the lightweight title. The first New Zealand boxer on record to win the title was in 1910 with Billy Wenand winning the bantamweight title. In all this time that the title has been fought for, the first women's Australasian title was in September this year with Rachel Loder winning the lightweight title. Last time a New Zealand boxer won it was New Zealand born Benjamin Kelleher when he won the title in 2017, and before then Shane Cameron won the title in 2005.

Tania Reid came into the fight as the underdog, fighting in another country, and coming off a loss as well. Her training camp, however, was different from any other fight she has prepared for. For her training, she flew over to Thailand to train at Kombat Group Thailand, a gym that has made more than 15 boxers, kickboxer, muay thai fighters and mma fighters become champions.

Rachel Loder defending her Australasian lightweight title was a tough opponent for Tania Reid as she came into the fight with an undefeated streak with 5 wins, one win against Quinita Hati, who Tania has fought and lost to before.

Judged Ian Batty scored the bout 76-76 a draw, Shane Stamford 78-74 and Brad Vocale 77-75 both going to Tania, making history in an extremely close fight, winning by Majority Decision. Tania Reid has become the first New Zealand female boxer to win the Australasian title. After the fight, Tania said “Rachel is a strong girl but I have changed as a fighter and the training over the last few months in Thailand has been amazing and developed my growth so much. I am super excited about the future and I want to pave the way for older females and inspire anyone if they chase their goals and believe in themselves they can achieve anything”.

When Tania found out she was making history she said “I'm stoked about it! I made NZ history as an amateur when my son and I fought on the same card in 2011 and it’s amazing to make history again as a professional”.

Tania Reid will be on her way back to New Zealand today where she will take the rest of the summer off. She is expected to come back fighting with a strong year in 2020.