Epic Boxing Showdown organiser Stewart Mitchell wants to open a junior boxing academy in Queenstown.
Buoyed by the success of last weekend's event, Mr Mitchell, who is the head trainer at Queenstown's Fight Science Gym, wants to build a local base of juniors to compete in the next showdown, which is scheduled for early next year.
To help achieve that goal, he plans to hold free training camps in December during the school holidays.
"This is for kids who seriously want to try boxing with the possibility of competing," he said. "It's not a babysitters club."
His plan is to run two classes a week for both 10 to 13-year-olds and 14 to 16-year-olds, with about 15 children per class.
Mr Mitchell said by putting time into junior boxing in Queenstown he was "raising the bar", which would hopefully develop boxing in the resort and have the boxers ready for the next Epic Boxing Showdown.
"In four to five months, they could be competing."
Mr Mitchell started boxing at the age of 17, but he said the benefits of getting into the sport early were massive.
"I realised the benefits of confidence, work ethic; and you can apply that to whatever you do in life," he said.
"Boxing gives you accountability and responsibility because you only have yourself in the ring; you can't shift the blame."
He said boxing was a great way to develop discipline in both adults and children and it "installs the will to win".
"It's not just about creating champions in the ring, but characters outside it as well."
Mr Mitchell's professional boxing career was cut short when he was involved in a serious car crash.
He said his coaching career had helped fill the void left by the accident and that was why he was keen to see young boxers achieve.
So far he has eight registered boxers five of whom have competed. He wants to get a "nucleus of kids" to begin their amateur careers.
Mr Mitchell has two daughters, aged 2 and 4, and he plans to have them wearing boxing gloves "as soon as I can".
He said his 12-year plan was to create a world champion here in what he calls the "mini Vegas of boxing".
Fight Science Gym will hold an open evening in November for parents and children to lodge their interest in the junior programme. For further details, contact Stewart Mitchell at Fight Science Gym on (03) 441-8311.
