By Lance Jenkinson
Louise Heta is basking in the glory of a 2-0 start to her boxing career.
The Werribee-trained fighter decided to step into the ring for the first time as a 36-year-old and has made an immediate impression.
Heta believes her greatest achievement is not measured in wins and losses, but the courage she displayed to take the plunge and have a go after years of putting it off.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Heta said.
“To get to a point mentally where I was ready to fight is actually more of an achievement than the physical side.
“It’s been over 10 years of me going on and off with boxing and not being ready, then thinking I can do it and that little inner critic telling me I can’t do it.”
Heta’s debut came in the Master Fit-Life Boxing Cup in Ferntree Gully.
With her husband and trainer Kim Heta in her corner, the light welterweight boxer recorded a win over Donna Hensler. It was the next fight in an amateur bout against Tennille MacNamara that Heta truly announced her arrival.
Not only did Heta win, but she won on technical knockout after the referee called a premature halt to the fight.
Heta leads a busy life as a sports dietician and group fitness instructor at A-Team Fitness and Boxing, and a mother to three children, Kwai, 5, Kaino 3, and stepson Kodi, 15, but that is not stopping her.
“It’s really important for people who are
our age to make the time to train and set yourself some kind of health and fitness goal,” Heta said.
“What it gives you in return, the cost of time versus the benefit of how it helps you as an individual, it helps you be better in every way.”
