Gatling Gun ready to fire

Eleven months after winning a professional boxing title in New Zealand, Christine ‘Gatling Gun’ Gillespie is finally returning to the ring this weekend.

But the Richmond bantamweight boxer, who had pneumonia last month, is off to Queensland because it was so hard to secure opponents here.

Even the Australian process was frustrating.

“I have been trying to get bouts in Aussie, but they kept offering fights at lower weights and at very short notice, and I just couldn’t do it,” says the 34-year-old, who trains out of her GGG Boxing gym at the Waimea Rugby Complex.

She has had to step up to super bantamweight, the 55.3-kilogram class, to take on Australasian champion Leah Reuben in Brisbane on Saturday night.

They call the 24-year-old fighter from Cairns “Princess Leah”.

“So, I will be Darth Vadar,” quips GGG. Taking up boxing turned Leah’s life around after constantly being in trouble as a youngster.

At her last court appearance she was facing 170 charges and knew it was time to turn her back on alcohol and drugs. She is now a social worker.

“I have seen videos of Leah fight, and she looks like a boxer whereas I am a brawler. I will whack the body, and she might go down,” declares the 1.62m southpaw.

Christine has been sparring primarily with one of the fighters she trains.

“Nikora Hedlund is a bit taller and fights in and out of range, so is ideal to work with ahead of this fight.”

She has also been in the ring with young 85kg national champion Lopeti Aoilupotea.

“If I hit him too hard, he gets angry,” laughs the pocket rocket. With her trainer Barry Galbraith unavailable to travel to Queensland, Christine will have Lopeti’s trainer Dion Hall and Nikora in her corner for the top of the bill battle.

“The fight was a little late notice, but she will go good,” insists Nikora, ahead of Christine’s just fourth professional fight following 33 in the amateur ranks. “I didn’t start boxing until 2019. I wish I had come to the sport earlier,” says the coach and house painter. “I would rather be here in the gym most of the time. I run training classes four times a week. It is starting to pick up a bit, and I have a lot of kids coming through. Some are as young as six, but they can’t fight until they are 10.”

While Princess Leah while have plenty of local support ringside, Christine is counting on family to back her.

“I have a few aunties and cousins in Queensland, and I have told them that they have to come.”