Aranui boxer misses out on worlds | Canterbury Sport | Surfing, Rugby, Soccer, Football, Cricket in Canterbury

Promising young Aranui boxer Luke Searle should be going to the world championships in Italy next month, says his trainer Jamie Roberts.

But instead, Nathan McEwen of Blackball will represent New Zealand in the middleweight division, even though, affected by injury, he's had only two fights this year.

Twenty-year-old Searle in contrast has had 11 - and won all four in his middleweight division, including the national Golden Gloves title at Palmerston North in June, where he KO'ed former Commonwealth Games rep boxer Kahu Bentson.

Roberts has posted recent fights of both on YouTube so fans can make up their own minds.

Searle, who's won three national junior titles, has been the country's busiest boxer the last two years. He battled through 21 bouts last year, and after 11 so far this year, he now has trips to Canberra and then Queensland this month where he'll have up to five bouts and five days training at the Australian Institute of Sport before the nationals in Rotorua.

This year, he's also gone into the ring against the country's three top light heavyweights just to get fights, and he was competitive even though he lost the three.

Roberts, who has trained Searle at the A Town gym since he started in the third form at Aranui High, reckons two fights is not a base for McEwen to go to the worlds.

"No disrespect to Nathan - he's a good fighter. But Luke is in better condition to go to the worlds," he said.

McEwen has beaten Searle three times in the past, but they haven't fought for nearly a year.

"Since then, Luke has had 16 fights, lost 6kg, and is clearly fitter, faster, and stronger than he was then," said Roberts.

He's unsuccessfully tried to tee up a rematch for Searle with McEwen all year, and has been annoyed to be told by a national boxing administrator that even if they met and Searle KO'ed McEwen, he wouldn't go to Italy.

Frustrated by some of the politics of the sport, Roberts has just resigned as a national selector and will concentrate on his promising A Town team instead.