NZ Born Australian Boxing Champion Nicila Costello Achieves Her Second Stoppage

New Zealand born Australian boxing Champion Nicila Costello wins her fight against Muay Thai fighter Hannah Morgan with her second stoppage in a row.

On the undercard of the two New Zealand born Australian boxers Benjamin Kelleher vs Peter Sa'lesui rematch, the Hawarden, South Island, New Zealander Nicila Costello showed she had the “IT FACTOR” when she stopped her opponent in one minute forty seconds in the first round. Both boxers came in at 52.1 kgs, which shows that size does not matter to gain knockout power.

The commentators noted that before the fight started that both female boxers had one full leg tattoo each, combining the two will complete the full set.

It only took 38 seconds for Nicila to land her first major blow, which this punch was the key ingredient of the whole fight, “The Straight Right”. After that, the Muay Thai fighter Hannah Morgan was in trouble as she tried to get away from Nicila by moving around the ring. However, Nicila landed another Jab and Straight right to drop Hannah Morgan down hard.

Hannah showed some heart, got up and was willing to continue, but Nicilla was simply too good, and like a shark smelling blood in the water she went for the kill. Nicila knocked her opponent down again to end the fight.

“I’m feeling very good and I’m really grateful to Hannah for showing up ready for a war. My goal was definitely to stop the fight early, but I was prepared to go the whole way if it had come down to it.” Nicila Said the day after the fight. “I’m known for throwing big right hands so we really worked on trying to have me set it up more, utilising the jab and coming in for a good right hand, which I believe we achieved. We also worked a lot on going to the body so I'm really happy with my level changing during the fight.”

Nicila's trainer, another South Island New Zealand born Australian Todd Commons said over the next week they will put a plan together for the next 4 to 5 fights to get a world ranking and in a position for a world title shot in mind. “we’re looking to stay active on another ace show on hopefully around August... and will be targeting a regional title. The WIBA title has been offered to us that might be an option next but finding the right opponent is the hardest part.”

In the World of Boxing, there are four major sanctioning bodies, WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO. However before the four major sanctioning bodies were even interested in women's boxing, WIBA was one of the leading sanctioning bodies for women's boxing. Only one New Zealander has held the WIBA world title which was Wellingtons Gentiane Lupi.

Other results on the night at the event, Napier Born Australian Ricky Esilva also stopped his opponent in the first round. As for the New Zealander vs New Zealander fight, Peter Sa'lesui won the rematch against Benjamin Kelleher by split decision for the IBO Oceania-Orient Cruiserweight title.

Over in New Zealand, John Parker made his return, winning his fight against Dylan Wright by Majority Decision, and Conrad Lam made his return to the ring for the first time in three years, winning his fight against Lui Teo by Unanimous Decision.

Over in Florida, New Zealander David Light made his return to the ring for the first time in 17 months after dealing with a torn ACL that required surgery. He won his fight over American Anthony Martinez for the WBO International Cruiserweight title.

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