New Zealand boxer Lani Daniels, a three-weight world champion after her latest triumph in New York at the weekend, is looking forward to “some kai and a rest” before setting her sights on her next challenge.
Daniels, from Pipiwai Bush in Whangārei, arrived in Auckland this morning after beating American Shadasia Green for the IBF and WBO world super middleweight belts at Madison Square Garden.
Daniels, 37, went into the fight a big underdog after losing her two previous bouts, but stopped Green with a flurry of unanswered punches in the ninth round of a fight scheduled for 10.
She was behind on the scorecards of two of the three judges and her late onslaught resulted in her opponent being taken to hospital. Green was later cleared of serious injury.
Daniels, previously a heavyweight and light heavyweight world champion, had lost her belts in her two defeats to Clarissa Shields and Sarah Scheurich respectively.
Asked by 1News this morning whether she was surprised by her performance, Daniels replied: “Now we’re on home soil, I’m not surprised. I believe we haven’t scraped the surface of what I’m capable of. I needed that fight to remind me because I kind of lost it along the way.
“I want to be the best version of myself and I don’t think the boxing world has seen that. There are still a few fights left for Lani Daniels.”
When asked whether she would consider a rematch against the undefeated Shields, who congratulated Daniels by posting “well done champ” on social media afterwards, Daniels said: “Sure, because I believe in that fight I wasn’t myself. She inspired me to make the changes I needed to make and this fight cemented that.”
Daniels lost to Shields by a wide points margin but is unlikely to face her again in the near future.
She still has fights with Jake Paul’s MVP promotional company and will require careful managing to make the most of her success in a sport which offers few rewards for the majority of its female competitors.
Shane Cameron: 'That's wicked'
New Zealand boxing identity Shane Cameron, who has supported Daniels with equipment and funding, told 1News: “She was a major underdog… and to come away with a stoppage to be a unified champion of the world… that’s wicked – hopefully she gets a lot of credit for that and a lot of money, she deserves it.
“It’s a hard game that she’s in and girls just don’t get the recognition they deserve.
“I like supporting people because I know what it’s like.”
Daniels said of Cameron, the Commonwealth Games medallist and former New Zealand heavyweight champion: “He’s supported me from my first title fight… he’s been the only person in my camp apart from my whānau who has actually supported me as such.”
Daniels also won the highly regarded Ring magazine super middleweight belt. While she was not presented with the spoils of victory after her fight, the belts were “in the mail”, she said.
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