THE life of a dedicated mum is a busy one, especially if you are raising four children under 10 years of age.
When you combine the task of caring for the kids with studying for a university degree it gets even more hectic.
Then if you really want to complete a hurricane life mix add to it training three times a day, every day as you strive to become a champion athlete.
This is the life of Ripley mum, 34-year-old Tash Kurene, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.
For the past decade Tash has combined the love of boxing with studying and raising a family.
Even when she was pregnant, she continued to train and in fact on two occasions she was working out when she went into labor.
“After having a bub, I’d take a break for six weeks and then start to get the body back in shape to get into the ring,” she said.
“As you may now understand I just love boxing, it’s my time and rewards me for all the physical effort I put in before I fight.”
After a distinguished amateur career Tash has now turned professional and was selected to fight on the first ever all women’s card on Fox and Kayo last week.
As an amateur she held numerous Queensland and Golden Glove titles and fought for the national title losing in a split decision to Tina Rahimi who went on to win the bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games.
If Tash had won that fight it would have been her in Birmingham last year wearing the green gold of her country.
That loss doesn’t weigh on her because Tash “the fighting mum” Kurene has her sights set on winning not one, but four national belts in different weight divisions.
“I want to take a photo of myself standing together with my four children with each of them holding a title belt,” she said.
“I can do it because I can easily get my weight down to the other divisions unlike many of my potential opponents.”
After winning her first professional fight, Tash lost on a split point decision in her Fox TV debut. While she didn’t offer excuses, she’d been given little notice to prepare for that bout against a former national champ in Tywarna Campbell.
It was also her first six round bout and she was going up a weight division.
“The loss was disappointing, but it was a great chance to promote myself and it may even mean I’ll get more fights as a number of female boxers were avoiding taken me on,” she said.
Tash has a Bachelor of Psychology in Business and is currently studying for a Master of Learning and Teaching at UniSQ.
NOTE: Tash is supported by two Ipswich sponsors in Timra Mechanicals and Rebound Remedial Massage and is on the lookout for more locals to get in her corner.
