Photo: Peter Meecham / The Press
Reefton's Lisa Ryan is officially New Zealand's oldest female boxer, at the ripe age of 55.
She cannot box competitively here in New Zealand, as the cut-off age is 50. But overseas the Masters circuit is booming, she says.
Last month, Ryan had a knockout win at the Ageless Warriors amateur tournament in Australia and now she is gearing up for her next event, the Pan Pacific Masters Games.
She needs a challenge to get motivated, she told RNZ's Nights.
"I just put my hat in there and gave it a go. Because I am one of these people that are actually quite lazy unless I set myself a bit of a challenge.
"And I wouldn't train probably for anything unless I set myself a challenge.
"My fear of humiliation will usually drive me to make sure I do the training and then able to compete."
She first got into boxing in the 1990s when as a reporter she met new Zealand's oldest boxer Eric Briggs.
"I was playing other sports at the time. And I went up to watch one of his training sessions and he was running a gym up at the Workingmen's Club in Greymouth.
"I watched what he went through with the training and he invited me to come in and have a go. And so, I did the skipping and some of the other exercises, and I was pooped afterwards, absolutely pooped after only about five minutes.
"So I thought well, there's got to be something good in this. And I just joined up from there. And they chucked me in the ring after only three months' training. So that was a good experience."
She won that bout, she said.
"I managed to stop my opponent in the first round. It was probably lucky for me, I think, at the time I was that nervous that I just didn't stop hitting, and so had it gone for longer than the first minute I probably wouldn't have lasted, because you do three two-minute rounds in the ring, and it's a lot of time to be punching without thinking, and I think that's what I was doing at the time - but it got me through."
Then came the Canterbury Champs.
"I took out two titles, the 54kg Open woman's title, the 57kg woman's title that was a bit of an upset because Maria McCallum was the current national champ at the time and had been unbeaten.
"So this little girl from the West Coast went over there, but I think it was just, I didn't really know what I was in for and just gave it a go."
After competing for the national side, there was a long hiatus from boxing, she says.
"When you're younger, you make some bad choices. And I was involved in a relationship that was not too good for me.
"He was involved in boxing so, I avoided the very thing I loved for 20 years. And then I thought to myself, why am I avoiding something I really, really love? And so that's how I got back into boxing."
The Masters boxing circuit is "pretty huge" in Australia, she says.
"There's a big tournament, the Pan Pacifics in November, where they have fighters from all over the world come to fight in a tournament. People from Russia, Thailand, South Africa and Scotland. So that will be a wonderful test to see if I can give it a wee whirl over there."
Getting back in the ring has empowered her, she says.
"It's helped get me through, it's good both for me, you find what's good for you, don't you? But for me, mentally and physically, it's a really good mix."
These could be her golden years, she says, and has no plans to retire just yet.
"I've had two knee surgeries on my right knee and one on my left, but I still managed to box, probably a bit too much road running and squash back in the day.
"But you know, I can still move around and it's an all-body workout and it's not too jarring on what little cartilage is left in the knees. So, whilst I still can keep moving, I think I'll just keep at it."
