Tanisha Devlin

Tanisha Devlin is the eldest of 11.

If the family pecking order wasn’t already clear enough to her younger siblings, than her skills in the ring would make it even less enticing to pick a fight with her.

The 18-year-old was crowned the NSW novice state champion at a tournament in Bargo last year in her 54 kilogram weight category.

Afterwards she got to train at the Australian Institute of Sport which consisted of three intensive training sessions, on each of the two days, with a 6am start.

Since then, the young fighter finished her secondary education at Murray High School which has opened up more time for the main love of her life.

“We’ve been busy trying to get fights … I’ve finished Year 12 so now I can concentrate more on training and boxing,” Tanisha said.

Tanisha trains seven days a week, most of the time in the family’s gym, Southern Cross Boxing, in North Albury.

Even when she’s not training she can be found in the one room fighter’s studio with her sister Ebony, 17, on a Friday night teaching children how to box.

Tanisha enjoys showing the budding boxers the ins and outs of the sport and is in the process of getting a diploma in fitness.

“I like all of it, bag work, agility, balance coordination, technique and getting in and sparring and fighting,” she said.

Spiritually the gym has become like a “second home” for Tanisha.

She said she always wanted to go down to the gym, given what boxing had given her was “a life”.

“You always walk out (of the gym) feeling so much better,” Tanisha said.

Her commitment to the sport will do her well as she strives to get a spot on the Australian team for the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

Tanisha’s game plan in the next two years to achieve her goal is to simple. Keep winning fights.

Coach and father, Rob, said Tanisha was a technical fighter and had only lost two bouts out seven, both being by split decision to one national and one pan-pacific champion.

Taking the losses on the chin, Tanisha is gearing up for a busy start to the year with fights in Melbourne, Newcastle and Bathurst all lined up through to April.

The one she’s nervously looking forward to most, is the Golden Gloves tournament in Melbourne from March 18 to 20.

Tanisha said she was feeling “pretty good” about being named a finalist for the Young Achiever of the Year Award.

“I’m excited about it and I would like to wish all the other participants good luck,” she told The Border Mail.