Soulan Pownceby

Soulan Pownceby , also Soulan James Rikihana (born May 4, 1975 in Christchurch ) is a former New Zealand boxer .

Career

Soulan Pownceby was an amateur multiple times champion of New Zealand, most recently 2006 in heavyweight . He also won four gold medals and one bronze medal at Oceanic Championships, and one bronze medal at Commonwealth Championships. In 2003 he was a participant in the World Championships in Bangkok and started in 2004 at the Olympic Games in Athens , where he was eliminated in the first fight against İhsan Yıldırım Tarhan . He was the only boxer in New Zealand's Olympic team.

From 2007 to 2012 he boxed as a professional in New Zealand and French Polynesia , remaining undefeated in 21 fights. He won the New Zealand Cruiserweight Championship in 2008 , the WBO Asian-Pacific Light Heavyweight Championship in 2009 and the WBF World Championship in 2010 .

International success

• 2001: 1st place Middleweight Oceanic Championships in Fiji
• 2002: 3rd place Middleweight Oceanic Championships in New Zealand
• 2003: 1st place Oceanic Light Heavyweight Championships in Tahiti
• 2004: 1st place Light Heavyweight Oceanic Championships in Tonga , final victory against Ben McEachran
• 2005: 1st place Light Heavyweight Oceanic Championships in Papua New Guinea
• 2005: 3rd place Light Heavyweight Commonwealth Championships in Scotland

• 2009: Asian-Pacific Champion of the WBO light heavyweight division, four title defenses
• 2010: World Champion of the WBF in the light heavyweight division

Private

Soulan Pownceby grew up without a father after he left the family. His mother died of cancer when he was 17 years old, and his sister was the victim of a fatal violent crime.

In 1995 Pownceby was sentenced to four years imprisonment for manslaughter.

Web links

• Professional profile at BoxRec
• Soulan Pownceby in the database of Olympedia.org (English)