Kiwi Mea Motu can hardly wait to defend her IBO world super bantamweight title for the first time, when she takes on Malawian Ellen Simwaka on August 26.
Motu won the belt by defeating Canadian Tania Walter in the annual Fight for Life event headliner four months ago, but despite the comfortable unanimous decision victory, she feels she's in a much better place this time around, as she looks to keep the belt in New Zealand.
Under the guidance of West Auckland trainer Isaac Peach, Motu has described the lead-up to the bout as her "best camp ever".
"I'm feeling excited already, chuck me in now," she told Newshub. "I'm ready, I feel more excited mentally and physically, because I'm in a really positive place in my mind.
"Mentally, I'm so positive about myself and I feel strong. I'm a lot more focused - I'm way more focused - and I'm very in-tuned with what I need to do, because my last camp was a struggle.
"It was very stressful, and we're kind of just focusing on me being the fighter and not me being the abuser."
The always modest Motu reveals she hasn't found her newfound confidence from becoming world champion, but instead from her coaches.
One, in particular, is Peach's eight-year-old son, Zen, who Motu credited with teaching her how to throw a right hand.
"Not because I'm a world champion, [but] because of my gym. My coaches - and Zen - believe in me 110 percent.
"It felt weird not having him [at training], because he's normally in my corner and I was waiting for him to yell out to me, so, it was really weird.
"I struggled today, just because I'm so used to him and he's worked alongside me this whole training camp for the last 10 weeks.
"It felt quite uncomfortable not having Zen there. I'm so used to him and it was something strange for me, which is good, I need to learn."
