Brett and team at Pearce Insurances have proudly supported Alexis Pritchard on her boxing journey since the beginning – nine years ago. Alexis, a seven-time women’s boxing national champion with nine years of experience in the ring, is an elite athlete. Her style as a fighter, reigns supreme, she is quick on her feet, with long arms giving an impressive range for a deadly right hook. Alexis is not your typical boxer, she is an articulate young woman who has two university degrees and works as a physiotherapist at Rangitoto College. In 2012, for the first time in the 116-year history of the modern Olympic Games, women’s boxing was included in the London programme. Alexis went to the Olympics and fought well in her lightweight division (56-60kg), winning her first fight to move within another win of the medal round. She didn’t get there, but showed enough potential to be rated a medal chance in Rio in 2016. Women’s boxing has grown hugely in New Zealand since Pritchard’s first fight in 2003, with about 60 females in the amateur ranks. This growth has been matched by funding from High Performance Sport New Zealand. Women’s boxing is destined to keep moving upwards too, with the three Olympic divisions already added to the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow For Alexis, the inclusion of women’s fighting on the Commonwealth Games programme is a huge step for the sport. “I feel really honoured and proud to be part of the first group of women making history,” she said. “Women have fought hard in the ring for many years and it is recognition of this. It’s an absolute positive for boxing in New Zealand and around the world.” Alexis adds that the calibre of boxers at Glasgow will be high but a podium finish is in her sights. “For me, Glasgow is about building on my experience in London. I learned a lot in that elite environment and now I want to keep moving forward and finish with a medal in Glasgow.” As a role model for other sportspeople and younger athletes, Alexis is also a Drug-Free Sport New Zealand Ambassador whose motto is … fight clean… live clean. Pearce Insurances continues to support Alexis in her quest and wishes her the best in her very real endeavours for podium finish – fight hard Lexi!