Exclusive: IBO Super Bantamweight Champion Mea Motu Is Chasing More Gold As she Prepares For ‘New Chapter’
IBO Super Bantamweight World Champion Mea Motu is hungry to add more titles to her collection, with her sights set on booking a date with the winner of next week’s unification clash between England’s Ellie Scotney and France’s Segolene Lefebvre.
Scotney and Lefebvre will face off on April 13 inside the Manchester Arena, with Scotney’s IBF and Lefebvre’s WBO titles up for grabs. Motu currently sits at number one in the IBF Super Bantamweight rankings and will be the mandatory challenger for whoever gets their hand raised on the 13th.
Coming off the second defence of her IBO strap in December, Motu is game to fight anyone in her weight class and is picking Scotney to get the job done.
” I see Ellie winning, but then I just never know with Lefebvre because, you know, she’s got her reach. If she knows how to use her reach and does not allow Ellie to get in, she might just beat her on points, but I see Ellie wanting this 100%, ” Motu tells Boxing Daily.
Motu is keeping her tools sharp with an upcoming fight against Thailand’s Noppaket Srisawas, scheduled for April 26 inside Auckland’s ABA Stadium. The bout will be a super featherweight contest, and while she will be the lighter of the two, Motu is confident she will get the job, especially as she is no stranger to fighting outside her weight class.
She turned professional when New Zealand’s borders were closed due to COVID-19. To stay active, she had to face off against heavier opponents, and she even grew to enjoy competing as the lighter fighter.
” She is another weight up, but I prefer heavier. Their punches are a lot bigger, not as fast, but bigger, and it’s more like a hurt game. That’s how I feel,” she explains.
The 34-year-old mother of five is aiming for a busy 2024 after recently partnering with No Limit Boxing. The Australian promotion, which is home to former WBO Super Welterweight World Champion Tim Tszyu, has become a powerhouse in Southern Hemisphere boxing. No Limit helped guide Motu’s stablemate, David Light, to a cruiserweight world title shot, and she is excited about what the future holds for her.
“They are the biggest promoters on this side of the world, and they are really good promoters. They used to promote David Light, and they looked after David well,” she says.
” I’ve met them in person, and they’re great people. So when Isaac [Motu’s trainer] said we were moving, I was rapt.”
Motu’s teammates Andrei Mikhailovich and Jerome Pampellone will join her under the No Limit umbrella, with all three fighting out of West Auckland’s Peach Boxing gym. Mikhailovich and Pampellone, who compete in the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions respectively, are on the cusp of world title shots, making it a mouth-watering time for New Zealand boxing fans.
“I’m excited about what’s going to happen this year. I literally feel like we’re opening up to even bigger and better. You know, it’s time for Peach Boxing to move even further onto the world scene, ” she says.
“I feel like this is a whole new chapter, a whole new beginning, on a higher level, better standards, world-class standards. We are definitely world-class fighters.”
Motu already has one world title; if she has her way, she will soon add more to her trophy cabinet.
