Jordan Wilson shed a third of her body weight, got fit and healthy, and now takes punches to the head and body for reward. No pain, no gain.
The 34-year-old started training for fitness in 2021 in the “box-fit style” (boxing fitness) and stepped into the ring for her first competitive boxing fight 16 months ago.
The very determined, self-driven turnaround in lifestyle has now led Wilson to her debut selection to fight for New Zealand – at next month’s World Amateur Boxing Championships in Liverpool, England.
“About two years ago I just got the bug and said I want to do it, have a fight. I had my first amateur fight in April last year,” she says.
Boxing competitively for 16 months, Wilson’s record sits at 18 fights, with 12 wins and six losses.
This year has delivered knockout tournament victories, winning the coveted North Island Golden Gloves and Queensland Golden Gloves championships, the latter last month.
“The following week I got the phone call that I was selected to represent New Zealand at the world champs. It took a while to sink in,” Wilson says.
She leaves for the United Kingdom on August 17, starting with a two-week camp in Glasgow to train and spar with other exceptional women boxers from England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France and Australia, before the world champs in Liverpool from September 4-14.
“I’m very excited. It’s huge. The international exposure to different boxing styles is going to be so important. I’m working so hard. The big goal is to make the Commonwealth Games next year.”
Wilson grew up in Howick and played rugby for Pakuranga, so has a history of contact sport.
She spent eight years across the Tasman and after transferring home after the pandemic, works remotely from east Auckland for Australian telecommunications company Telstra as a technical project manager.
“I had always been a sporty person. I’d moved overseas, put on weight, Covid hit, and I just wanted to get fit and healthy.
“I did box-fit as a weight loss journey to start – from 105kg.”
She’s now a lean 65kg muscular, strong and agile welterweight.
“I started training more frequently. Got the [boxing] bug, training twice a day some days. It’s changed my life in more ways than one.
“I lost my first four fights. It was all about learning; and winning ever since. I’m on a winning streak of 11.”
One of her experienced coaches at The Box Office boxing fitness gym in Howick, Henry Schuster, one of Auckland and New Zealand’s great trainers, says Wilson’s “work effort is unbelievable”.
“It’s very good. She puts in the hard work. She’s the only boxer I have to tell to go home and have a day off.”
Last year’s national champs representing Auckland was a turning point, Wilson acknowledges.
“At the end of last year, I’d only had five fights. Something went click there. I thought, I’m good enough to be here, I can do this. From there it was no looking back.
“I say no to a lot of things now. Not as much socialising. There’s too much temptation for food and drink.”
With combat sport, there’s the element of pain, when someone else hits the body and head with big heavy gloves.
“It’s more mental than physical half the time,” Wilson says. “I can see that’s what let’s people down. I’ve seen it in my opponents.
“Now, it [getting hit] is just normal. The first time I did sparring, I didn’t know if I liked it. Someone said, ‘you’ve got to make peace with war’, and once you accept you’re going to get hit it becomes easier.
“Sometimes that first hit you take wakes you up – all right, we’re here.
“The tactical and strategic component is one of my favourite parts. Everything is about set-up, controlling your opponent, making them move where you want them to move, laying traps.
“It’s all about composure for me. When I’m relaxed in there, I’m at my best.”
Kurt McKee, of The Box Office, says her victories in the two Golden Gloves tournaments has cemented Wilson “as one of the most promising fighters in the country, and earned her a place among New Zealand’s elite”.
“Jordan has shown incredible form this year. Her success is not just a personal achievement – it’s a powerful statement for women in boxing, breaking barriers in a sport historically dominated by men and inspiring the next generation of fighters,” says McKee.
Wilson’s other coach, knowledgeable Irishman Sean Lynch, is impressed with her transformation, remembering how she was when first arriving at The Box Office at 105kg.
“It’s an important part of her journey,” says the trainer, originally from Cork.
“She’s very self-driven. That’s essential, and she sets the training standards for others. She’s very dedicated and in control of what she wants to achieve.”
- It’s personally costly for Jordan Wilson to get to the World Amateur Boxing Champs, to the tune of $10,000, and she has a fundraising page where donations can be made, and she’d be very grateful for them: https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/help-jordan-get-to-the-2025-boxing-world-champs
