Teremoana Teremoana

The death of his much-loved grandfather in 2018 was the emotional jolt that set Queensland heavyweight Teremoana Teremoana on a path to the Paris Olympics.

Teremoana had been boxing for a decade, but the loss of his grandfather a few months before he turned 21 forced him to take stock and decide to get serious about his career in the ring.

“I’m his namesake ... his name is Teremoana Tangauru and I’m Teremoana Teremoana,” he said. "After I turned 21, I just looked at everything and thought, nah stuff this, I'm going to give it a go, give it a crack, because what can you lose?

"Everyone says boxing is a young man's sport, so I thought if I want to do it, now is the time."

Teremoana, who grew up in Brisbane but has Cook Islands heritage, began boxing as a 12-year-old when his father introduced him to the sport so he could look after his older sisters.

After he took the decision to apply himself more seriously to the sport as a 21-year-old, the successes began to come. Teremoana, who stands 198cm tall and weighs in at 122kg, had four professional fights between 2020 and 2022 and won them all.

In 2023 he defeated NSW boxer Elvino Maroulis to become the Australian super heavyweight champion. That took him to the Pacific Games on Honiara, Solomon Islands, where he booked his ticket to Paris when he stopped Samoan Elijah Mercury-Leafa in the second round of the +92kg final.

Now he hopes that win is just a stop en route to Olympic glory.

"It feels amazing to qualify, I set out a goal and I completed it," he said.

"This isn't the end goal, this is a checkpoint on it. I'm going for Olympic gold now.

“I don’t want to be good, I want to be great, I want to be the best.”