Champion young people,
champion communities

Growing communities through boxing.
Our champions

Our Mission in NZ

Partnering with communities to establish leading-practice, youth focused boxing gyms.

Through sharing Programmes, Systems and Governance resources, we partner with local communities to achieve our vision of Champion young people who contribute to their communities.

We've got the right hook

Over 10,000 Rangatahi,
and counting

Young people of all backgrounds are choosing to engage with our network of boxing gyms.

Through our programmes they develop mental, social, and physical skills, forming lasting friendships that will enable them to pursue their dreams and positively impact their communities.
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Zakir Yusof From Refugee to National Champion

In 2017 Zakir arrived from Afghanistan and began is his boxing journey.
Our champions
Our Impact

What your support
means for a Champions
member

‘Boxing has the power to transform lives. It has an almost unmatched capability to engage some of the most disaffected young people and help to combat a massive range of social problems, covering crime, educational underachievement, health and fitness and community cohesion’

- Nicola Adams, Boxing: The Right Hook Report

LEARN ABOUT CHAMPIONS IMPACTDONATE TODAY
across new zealand we have
900
Engaging over 900
young people each week
8
Established Academies
and more to come!
90
Over 90 education providers have
engaged with our programmes

Their words
not ours.

Learn more about our impact

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Academy Member
Academy Member

The academy helped me develop important life skills such as the values. You’ve helped me gain confidence and encourage me to take risks and take my interests and passions and turn them into something positive for myself and others.

Lucan
Lucan
Mid Canterbury Boxing Academy

My first time in the ring at a competition I was very nervous. But the Academy has a strong brotherhood that is always in my corner, and this remains as we grow older together.  From the start I could see how the Academy cared about building good young men, not just good boxers.  The values of the Academy are taught from the ‘Passport to Succes’ and this is one of the most important tools I have learnt here.

The Academy has had a pretty massive impact on me, it makes me think of the consequences of my actions before I act, it’s made me like myself, who I am and are becoming as a person, and how I carry myself and act towards other people.

Saxon
Saxon
Naenae Boxing Academy

When boxing you must have dreams and then set goals to reach those dreams. Being successful in boxing allowed me to dream bigger than before and set a goal of going to university unlike many of my family before me. And I achieved that, thanks to Naenae Boxing Academy.

Nate
Nate
Naenae Boxing Academy

There is a strong sense of brotherhood in the academy, everyone is there to grow and to support each other to grow. The academy instilled in me the ability to treat others as you wish to be treated, work hard, show-up for your goals and for yourself and you will be able to achieve great things. I recently graduated with a law degree, and I am about to be admitted to the bar.

Champions initiative
News

Champions news and updates

September 23, 2025
Naenae Boxing Academy

Passionate and Community Focused Manager Needed

The Naenae Boxing Academy has a vacancy for a full-time manager. If you are passionate about our rangatahi, and community focused read more!

September 17, 2025
Naenae Boxing Academy

Zakir Yusof - From Refugee to National Champion Copy

Whenever Wellington teenager Zakir Yusof steps inside the boxing ring, he is determined to make proud all those who have supported his journey from refugee to national champion.Born in Afghanistan but raised in neighbouring Pakistan, Yusof arrived in New Zealand in 2017 with his mother and two brothers. He couldn’t speak English and spent his first weeks in a refugee camp, where he met his father for the first time--he had left when Zakir was a baby to try to build a better life for the family.

September 17, 2025

Zakir Yusof - From Refugee to National Champion

Whenever Wellington teenager Zakir Yusof steps inside the boxing ring, he is determined to make proud all those who have supported his journey from refugee to national champion.Born in Afghanistan but raised in neighbouring Pakistan, Yusof arrived in New Zealand in 2017 with his mother and two brothers. He couldn’t speak English and spent his first weeks in a refugee camp, where he met his father for the first time--he had left when Zakir was a baby to try to build a better life for the family.

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Our champions
How you can help

Help NZ's
Champion Youth

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