TWO Mildura locals are leading the way for females in a male-dominated sport.
Lainesia Toutai and Ruby Darcy are the first and second female boxers to fight out of Mildura, and they are showing the men how it is done.
Records of modern female boxing date back to the early 18th century in London, and in the 1904 Olympics an exhibition bout between women was held.
But it was not until the 2012 Olympics that women's boxing was officially added to the Games.
Compare that to men, who boxed at the ancient 23rd Olympiad in 688BCE, almost 3000 years ago.
Toutai, who has been competing for less than a year, is already running out of room on her trophy shelf. She has taken home four wins, two stoppages, the Mallee Sports Junior Encouragement of the Year Award, a boxer of the tournament award and a NSW King of the Ring championship. She has been selected to train in Canberra for the AIS.
Darcy, 11, the youngest Mildura boxer to compete, is following in Toutai's footsteps.
She won her first fight in Tasmania last weekend, as well as a fight of the night award.
Fighting is in Toutai's blood. Younger sister to boxers Gab and Henry, she had been around a boxing gym for much of her life before competing in the past year.
“Henry and Gab were doing it first, then I guess I liked it so I joined in,” she said. “I love the atmosphere here. I feel very grateful everything is starting to pay off."
For Darcy, who boxes under the watchful eye of her nan, the sport has been instrumental in building her confidence.
“When I moved in with my nan, I said I wanted to do a sport, and I decided to do boxing,” she said. “It was a way to get my emotions out.”
Darcy's grandmother Tamzin Vic has been supportive of Ruby all the way through and said all woman should try out the sport.
“I love it she's got more confident and she has grown as a person,” she said.
Toutai agreed and encouraged girls to take up the sport to get fit, learn self-defence and build confidence.
“Not everyone has to fight, but learning how to defend yourself is always a big deal especially for girls,” she said.
“My message to girls would be don't worry about anyone at that stage, do what you love and follow your dreams.”
Darcy agreed.
“I think it's because a lot of girls are scared of being hurt,” she said. “If I were to encourage more girls to get involved, you couldn't tell them that they 100 per cent won't get hurt, but you've just got to tell them if they work hard enough they will succeed.”
