Sideline Sid Sports correspondent & historian www.sunlive.co.nz

The cream of New Zealand's amateur boxers are in earnest preparation for the Boxing New Zealand National Championships to be held in Tauranga, from July 5 to July 8, 2023.

For Cadet (12 & 13 years of age) competitors through the Junior (14 & 15 years) and Youth (16 & 17 years) ranks - there is no bigger prize for young male and female pugilists than to be crowned a national champion.

The 2023 Nationals bring a cut-throat challenge for the country's elite boxers. In addition to the national titles up for grabs, there are 2024 Olympic qualifying tournament berths on the line.

Tauranga Boys College gymnasium will be the venue for four days of non-stop boxing action.

Winding back the clock to the early days after World War 2, the then Tauranga High School like many other secondary schools in the country, staged school boxing championships.

Aspiring Tauranga regional boxers in the 1940's needed to look no further than the Mount Maunganui Boxing Club for a local hero. Neville Hastings brought a 22 wins from 25 fights record from Palmerston North, when he shifted camp in 1946.

Hastings victories prior to moving north, included the Manawatu featherweight title, where he beat Wellington knockout artist Bob Goslin in the title decider. Goslin was out of the top draw of the countries boxing talent going on to represent New Zealand at the 1948 Olympics.

During the 1940's and 1950's, an Auckland boxing title ranked second behind a national crown in stature. In August 1946, the Mount Maunganui boxer journeyed to the nation's biggest city to endeavour to add an Auckland bantamweight title to his list of honour.

First up, he had an early finish with the referee stopping the contest. In the final, Hastings faced experience in spades in R King, who he dispatched by way of a points decision.

Back to back bantamweight titles were the carrot the following year. Victory by the short route in the final, gave Neville two prestigious Auckland boxing titles and a ranking as one of the best lighter-weighted boxers in the country.

Hastings grabbed many inches of Bay of Plenty newspaper coverage, when locked horns with Auckland featherweight champion Vic Gummer, in the Capitol Theatre in Te Puke during May and June 1947.

A sellout crowd was on hand on the 19th May 1947, when the Mount Maunganui boxer got the judges nod in what was described as a particular lively bout.

The intensity and popularity of the first meeting between Hastings and Gummer demanded a rematch, which took place just six weeks later at the same Te Puke venue.

Neville again took the fight to his Auckland opponent, landing blows to Gummer's head and body, while repelling the continuous reply. Hastings was given loud applause as his hand was raised in victory and both fighters left the ring amid much cheering.

While many boxing fans were touting Hastings as a potential New Zealand champion, a local newspaper report stated that a 'bad ear' kept Hastings out of the 1946 Nationals.

There is no record of Neville fighting in the 1947 national titles, with one of the best boxers to come out of the Western Bay of Plenty, going into retirement without a national crown.

The spirit of Neville Hastings is likely to be with the dozen or so Western Bay of Plenty boxers, who will stake their claim for national honours in combat, at the Tauranga Boys College facility during July.