Kwahli Beauchamp / Supplied
Three-time New Zealand national champion Kwahli Beauchamp, 19, will be busy making the most of the last half of 2024 and
will make his professional boxing debut in late July.
As announced by father and trainer Nort Beauchamp, Kwahli will have a busy six months as he sets up multiple
international fights. Kwahli has had a busy amateur career, with over thirty amateur bouts, winning three New Zealand
national boxing amateur championships. Now, his team feels ready to move up another level.
Kwahli will fly to Australia later in the week to begin training camp before making his professional boxing debut in
Bangkok,Thailand in late July or early August. Being 19 gives Kwahli an advantage and more opportunities as he can
compete for youth regional titles, getting into the top 15 of the major professional sanctioning bodies (WBA, WBC, WBO,
IBF) faster. However, Kwahli will still be able to compete in the amateur division.
Over the last seven years, professional boxers have been able to compete in both amateur and professional boxing. Kwahli
will use this as he competes in international amateur boxing fights. Aotearoa NZ IBA (amateur sanctioning body), created
by Doug Viney of City Kickboxing, has selected Kwahli to compete at the World Friendship Games, which will be taking
place in Moscow, Russia, in September.
Finally, to end the year on a high note, Kwahli will return to New Zealand for his next professional boxing fight in his
hometown of Christchurch, promoted by his father, Nort Beauchamp.
This schedule was carefully constructed to make the most of the rest of the year and take advantage of fights in amateur
and professional boxing. Training in Australia will also improve, as he will be training with some of Australia's best
boxers and trainers.
Kwahli is in the 51 kg divisions, which are around the Flyweight and Super Flyweight in Professional boxing and
Flyweight in the amateur division. Being at such a low weight creates difficulty in finding opponents at that weight on
this side of the world. Most boxers in this division generally reside in Asia. New Zealand has never had a New Zealand
national professional boxing champion before in the Flyweight and Super Flyweight divisions. The only two other active
professional boxers near that weight from New Zealand in the men's division are Peach Boxings Zain Adams in Auckland and
New Zealand-born Australian Alex Alsayyad.