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Mariah “The Golden Girl” Turner, of Papakura, will step into the biggest fight of her professional career later this month.
Turner will face Commonwealth Games gold medallist and Olympian Skye Nicolson for the WBC Interim World Super Bantamweight Title. The winner of the contest earns a mandatory shot at the full WBC World Championship.
The contrast in pathways to this fight could hardly be more stark. Nicolson arrives as one of the most credentialed amateurs in the history of women’s boxing — 139 amateur bouts, a Commonwealth Games gold medal, an Olympic appearance, and a decorated international career before turning professional.
Turner, by contrast, has never fought as an amateur. Her 13 professional contests represent the entirety of her competitive record, making her knockout ratio of six stoppages from 13 fights one of the most compelling statistics in the division.
Turner’s path to world title contention is one of the more unconventional stories in women’s professional boxing. Raised in South Auckland in a household steeped in combat sport — her father trained in boxing and kickboxing, her mother in karate, and her brother has accumulated 30 professional bouts across kickboxing and boxing — Turner was surrounded by the sport from an early age but did not compete herself until well into adulthood.
After attending Rosehill College — where she served as a school leader — Turner earned a scholarship to the University of Auckland. At 18, she fell in with the wrong crowd and lost the scholarship. She took a year off to find her feet, and then made the biggest decision of her life: to move to Australia, alone, at 21, and start over.
In Queensland, Turner was introduced to Muay Thai, recognising that boxing was her natural calling, she made the transition to professional boxing — bypassing the amateur ranks entirely. She reached out directly to trainer Luke Meldon at Fortitude Boxing in Brisbane, identifying him as the right person to guide her professional development. Under Meldon’s guidance and the management of Stephen Dellar, Turner has built a 12-1 record over three years, establishing herself as one of the more dangerous punchers in the super bantamweight division.
Her relationship with Fortitude Boxing extends well beyond the gym floor. Turner works there full-time, managing the gym’s day-to-day operations — a commitment that speaks to the totality of her investment in the sport and the team around her.
“I want to prove to people where I come from that anything is possible. I want young girls from South Auckland to see someone who looks like them standing on a world stage.”
Now living independently in Australia for close to eight years, her mother remains in the family home in Papakura; her father and brother have since relocated to Sydney. Turner has built her professional life far from the support of family. That distance has sharpened rather than diminished her resolve, and it gives this world title opportunity a weight that extends well beyond the sport.
She enters this contest having never fought as an amateur, facing an opponent in Nicolson who has experienced virtually everything the sport has to offer — Commonwealth Games gold, an Olympic stage, and 139 amateur bouts. For Turner, this is the moment her entire professional journey has been building toward. She will be expected by many to be the underdog. She has heard that before.
The WBC Interim World Super Bantamweight Title bout is scheduled for 10 2-minute rounds and takes place on April 29 at the Melbourne Pavilion, Australia.
