Canterbury Bulldogs’ Tevita Pangai Junior boxing debut, Phil Gould’s advice for first fight
When Bulldogs recruit Tevita Pangai Jr finally told Phil Gould he was preparing for his first fight, the Canterbury supremo offered a simple piece of advice.
Bulldogs forward Tevita Pangai Jnr gets in the ring for his first professional fight on Saturday night in Brisbane.
Canterbury supremo Phil Gould has one message for prized recruit Tevita Pangai Jr ahead of his professional boxing debut: “Don’t make the club look bad”.
The forward, who missed Penrith’s NRL grand final win through injury, will swap the footy for gloves on Saturday night in Brisbane when he goes toe-to-toe with fellow heavyweight Gerico Cecil.
Gould is backing Pangai Jr’s boxing aspirations, but not before offering some blunt and then some sage advice about stepping into the ring for the first time.
“He just said ‘make sure you don’t make the club look bad’,” Pangai Jr said with a laugh. “And to go out and do my thing.
“But Gus was good about it, he even gave me some advice. He just said ‘keep the jab out’ and ‘keep the left hand busy’. He said that was what his trainer back in the day would say to him when he did some boxing.”
Tevita Pangai Jr will make his boxing debut in Brisbane on Saturday night. Picture: Annette Dew
Twelve hours after stepping into the ring, Pangai Jr will jump on a flight to Sydney to start his
Canterbury pre-season, nine days before originally planned.
“I fight on Saturday night, leave for Sydney on Sunday and start on Monday,” Pangai Jr said. “I actually wasn’t due back until the 15th of December but I think it was just good to get back and see the boys.
“The borders have been shut so I haven’t been able to go down to see them, so I felt like it would be good to get in early. I’ve heard they’ve been training really hard.”
But before his impending Belmore arrival, Pangai Jr is ready to take care of ‘business’ against Cecil in Brisbane.
“I’ve asked around about him, I’ve seen a photo. He is a big boy,” he said. “I think he’s around 120 kilograms. He actually used to play in the Queensland Cup for the Ipswich Jets.
“Credit to him for taking the fight on late notice. But when we get in there, it’s just business.”
Tevita Pangai Jr has been working hard with trainer Chris McCullen. Picture: Annette Dew
The former Brisbane and Penrith forward has been training six days a week with Chris McCullen at Logan Boxing ahead of his debut four-round fight.
Pangai Jr has been able to draw experience from NRL training and game-day preparations from a physical aspect.
But the mental preparation required to get into the ring against a 120kg opponent has proved a new challenge to confront for Pangai Jr, who is tipping the scale at 114kg.
“The biggest difference … I think it’s the thought of someone just trying to take your head off for three or four rounds,” Pangai Jr said.
“The training is similar in terms of pre-season but there aren’t as much weights. The running and conditioning side is similar between the two sports.
“I think the boxing has been a good preparation for the NRL pre-season as well.”
While Pangai Jr will switch his focus back to rugby league on Monday, the new Bulldog admitted he had caught the boxing ‘bug’ and was open to taking more fights in the future.
“I haven’t grown up boxing, but I have been a big fan since I was a kid,” he said. “Obviously I have enjoyed guys like Anthony Mundine and Floyd Mayweather as a kid. I just did boxing for my fitness, I never did any sparring until recently and I just caught the bug for it.”
Tasman Fighters and D&L Super Saturday fight night at Brisbane’s Fortitude Music Hall is live on Fox Sports and Kayo from 6.30pm.
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