Mea Motu Captures WBA Oceania Strap Targets Alycia Baumgardner
Aotearoa’s Mea Motu’s ( 22-1, 9KO)quest to become a two-division world champ kicked off in earnest last Friday night following her unanimous decision victory over Australia’s Sara Jalonen (6-3,1KO) which saw Motu capture the WBA Super Featherweight Oceania title in front of a loud and raucous crowd at Auckland’s ABA Stadium.
The former IBO World Super Bantamweight champion dominated the judges’ cards, with two judges scoring it 100–90 and the third 99–91. The scores fail to reflect the grittiness of the contest, which saw plenty of grappling and close-in fighting, with both boxers leaving everything they had in the ring.
However, over the course of the ten-round bout, it was Motu who consistently landed the cleaner, more powerful shots, showing that despite moving up two weight divisions, she has lost none of her ability to hurt opponents if given an opening.
“I just have to be calm, relaxed — but it was good to be back in there,” Motu said to Boxing Daily following the bout.
“I was just trying to be smart, trying to look after my energy.”
It has been over a year since Motu fought on home soil, and her dedicated fanbase, alongside her family, were on hand to welcome her back to the ring. For a fighter who has strong roots in her community, feeling the love from the crowd provided her with an extra shot of inspiration as she faced off against Jalonen.
“It was just amazing to have all the support and help. It was encouraging — it’s always encouraging having all that support.”
Motu, currently ranked No. 3 with both Boxrec and the WBA, is looking to build a case for a shot at Alycia Baumgardner, the division’s reigning unified champion. Last month, Baumgardner was in action on the undercard of Katie Taylor’s Amanda Serrano trilogy bout, winning a unanimous decision over Spain’s Jennifer Miranda.
Motu is a fighter who has never shied away from a challenge, and the thought of locking horns with Baumgardner is one that gets her competitive juices flowing.
“Exciting. Yeah, that’s what I want, what I am chasing. Especially after being out in there [the ring], I’m like, this is where I belong,” Motu said when asked about a potential match-up with the champion.
The aim now is for her to return to the ring in November and continue building her case for a title bout. Friday night’s fight was just what Motu — who had her hair dyed back to her trademark red colouring — needed to relight her fire.
“I felt the hunger, and I felt what I missed,” she said.
“It just felt so good to be back in there and doing what I love. It just brought me back to, ‘This is the Mea.'”
Earlier in the night Motu’s stablemate Emma Nesbitt continued on her winning streak with a fourth-round stoppage win over India’s Himanshi Raghav. The world No.11 delivered a series of punishing kidney shots to take her record to 9-1-0 with six wins coming via way of stoppage.
