‘Bit of a freak’: The teen with Tongan rugby roots chasing Commonwealth boxing gold

Over the past 25 years, Jamie Roberts has trained plenty of talented young fighters. But none quite like Josh Tonga.

The Christchurch Boys’ High student first walked through the doors of Roberts’ A-Town boxing gym in suburban Aranui a decade ago, when he was a precocious six-year-old boy.

Four years later, he had his first official bout, winning the Australian Golden Gloves tournament in Queensland.

“It was just something that would keep me out of trouble, give me a bit of discipline,” Tonga said of his early introduction to the fight game, at his mother’s behest.

Now 16, he is a three-time national champion in his weight class and recently won gold in the 80kg division at the Oceania Youth Boxing Championships in Samoa, where he was also named the tournament’s best male youth boxer.

The sky seems to be the limit for the ambitious teenager, a multi-sport athlete who has his sights set on representing New Zealand at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Victoria (“that’s the next big goal”) and the Los Angeles Olympics two years later.

“I actually think as far as the youth division goes, he’s one of the more talented kids,” said Roberts, who is “very proud” of Tonga’s achievements to date and forecast a bright future for his young charge.

“He’s a bit of a freak athlete. He does the 400m in under 52 seconds. Good at school too, he can write in Japanese.

“He’s worked damn hard, and although he has been on a good winning streak – I think he has won his last nine fights in a row – he had a couple of tough losses three years ago and he bounced back from them and he’s done really well the last few years.”

With a Tongan father (Lotu played rugby for North Otago and league for Tonga) and Kiwi mother, Josh was asked to box for Tonga at the Oceania Championships, but chose to represent the country of his birth instead.

And he proved a cut above the competition in Apia, forcing three standing eight counts of his Samoan opponent in the final on his way to a first round stoppage and a gold medal.

“I definitely thought it would be a bit tougher, but on the day I performed well,” said Tonga as he reflected on his latest victory between the ropes.

It might have been different had Tonga followed in his father’s footsteps. He played rugby until he was “eight or nine”, turning out for Christchurch Rugby Club and was also a champion cross country runner.

But a frank conversation with his coach convinced him to ditch his rugby boots in favour of boxing gloves

“At the time, I was talking to my coach Jamie and he was saying I had to choose between rugby and boxing. It would be too much contact if I did both,” Tonga recalled.

“He was like, ‘you can either just keep training, or you can train to lead up to a fight eventually’. And I chose to fight.”

To ensure he has got necessary experience under his belt by the time the Commonwealth Games swing round in three years’ time, Roberts said it was paramount that Tonga started competing in events overseas, having conquered the competition at home.

“On our end, we’ve just got to provide opportunities for the kid, and a lot of those will have to be outside of New Zealand,” he said.

“Without being arrogant, he’s got not a lot [of competition] in his own division here. He goes up a weight to get fights, but we don’t want to put him in there with men – he’s still a boy.”

For Tonga, the ideal place to continue his development would be the United States, where there will be “more opportunities, and more people for me to fight”.

Listing lightweight champions Devin Haney and Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis as two fighters he admires, Tonga hopes to turn pro himself one day.

Yet given that he only turns 17 in July – and has plenty of amateur goals still to accomplish – he and his trainer are in no rush to get there.

“He’s only a young boy. He’s got big goals but we are in no hurry,” Roberts said. “If he puts in the work, watch this space.

“I’m just honoured to be part of his journey.”