'My bloodline': Teen boxer brings Tuvalu fire to Commonwealth Games

4:00pm
Merven Clair (left) of Team Mauritius and Pasoni Taafaki (right) of Team Tuvalu exchange punches during the Men's 70kg Round of 16 match on day four of the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games.

Pasoni Taafaki's Commonwealth Games ended way too quickly and he was in no mood to talk about it.

So a few hours after the 18-year-old lost his debut Games bout to Mauritian veteran Merven Clair in the 70kg class and quickly left the arena, it was left to Taafaki's Dad and coach Badi to discuss what had been achieved.

The current New Zealand middleweight champion was the flag bearer for the tiny island of Tuvalu at the Games opening ceremony. Older sister Tarona, 19, will also fight in the 75kg category.

Their Pacific islands home is one of the world's smallest nations and a country most directly impacted by the effects of climate change.

It takes three days to travel from Tuvalu to Glasgow, via a boat or plane trip to Fiji.

"The Tuvalu flag is my bloodline. This is where I was born and raised – now my son carries it," Badi told AAP.

"[Travel] is very tiring, even though you don't feel it because of the excitement.

"Sport is everything to us in terms of the global arena – it's transformed a lot of things.

"We were a colony of Great Britain and they acknowledge it. For us, to make history at this level, people realise Tuvalu is there."

All of Badi's eight children, aged from seven to 22, are boxers.

He wants them to have what was never available to him at their age.

Flagbearer Pasoni Badi Taafaki of Team Tuvalu and King's Baton Bearer Malia Timo of Team Tuvalu lead their team during the opening ceremony ahead of the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games.

"We did a lot of bare knuckling – we loved the sport, it just wasn't available," Badi said.

"Tuvalu's future in boxing is very bright. A lot more Tuvaluans are coming through the rankings.

"The nice thing is they're all determined to make statements. There's a lot of fire in the belly."

Badi said the unanimous points decision for the more experienced Mauritian against his son showed Pasoni had a lot to learn, but added he lacked nothing for potential and attitude.

"There are levels to sports ... to fight an Olympian, a kid who is way, way older than him, who has been to the Commonwealth Games four times – he's the African champ for the last three years," he said.

"I can't be any more proud of what Pasoni did and the work we did.

"Pasoni has a lot of fire in him, he just couldn't catch the opponent because the whole time he was running away from us.

"I guess that's strategic. It was very, very close, but it is what it is. We'll build it from here."

The Mauritian camp made a point of approaching Pasoni after the bout and offering their respect.

"Pasoni has spent very limited time in the game, even though he's New Zealand champ. We need to get a lot more exposure to international levels," Badi said.

"If you get to know this boy, he's a very hard competitor. He doesn't accept defeat, so today is one of those days.

"It will take him a little while to cool down. It took him an hour just to calm down.

"He got approached by the opponent's coaches and their whole staff, even their medical, and they just told him this is one of the hardest fights their boy has fought."

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