Former Centenary State High School student, Teremoana Teremoana Jr is on a mission: to put the name of his late grandfather’s name, Teremoana Tangauru, into the history books. Since he was a kid, he has visualized being on the Olympic podium with the Australian national anthem playing.
It’s not always been a smooth road though, as he quit boxing at the age of 19 because he felt he was missing out on all the social activity his friends were enjoying whilst he was in the gym training.
After a two-year break, his determination to build a legacy in the name of his late grandfather brought him back to the sport.
Teremoana recently won a Super Heavyweight Gold medal in the Pacific Games and defeated Abner Teixeira, the Tokyo Heavyweight Bronze medalist. During the fight, Teremoana delivered a brutal combination to Teixeira, causing the Brazilian to steady himself on the ropes to avoid falling. The referee gave Teixeira a standing count and declared the fight over. Teremoana then performed a Cook Islands Haka and seemed to expend more energy doing so than the brutal KO of his opponent.
Be under no illusion this guy is a very serious boxer!
At Centenary State High, he played volleyball and is remembered for his fearsome hitting in the Open Volleyball team. Another Centenary student, Grant Irvine, represented Australia in the Rio Olympics in the 200m Butterfly.
Weighing in at around 120kg, he may well have a considerable weight and power advantage over many in the 92+ kg Super Heavyweight divison.
His coach, Shara Romer and QAS Strength and Conditioning Coach Patrick Castelli have him well prepared for the journey and Teremoana certainly won’t lack family support.
His mum is Australian and his dad is from the Cook Islands. His dad got Teremoana into boxing at the age of 12 so that he could look after his sisters. He trains at the Boxing Shop in Salisbury and he will embark on his Paris Olympics campaign from Monday 29 July late evening into Tuesday morning Brisbane time. The fight draw and schedule are yet to be set.
There will then be a four-day break before the quarter finals from the early hours to the morning of 3 August with the semi-finals on 8 August and the final on 11 August at 6:51 a.m. Brisbane time.
Let’s hope Teremoana can bring a Gold medal back to Inala where he lives.
Stan Sports will show all 329 events live spread across 40 individual channels.
Published 24-July-2024