Photo: Sky Sports/Calden Jamieson – Lani Daniels, current IBF heavyweight and light heavyweight champion.
The dust has settled since Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse’s (7-1, 2 KOs) conquest of the WBC heavyweight world title. One question persists, thought: who will be next? We might see Abril Vidal (10-2, 4 KOs) again if the WBC orders it, or perhaps, if ‘Vany’ could decides so, Lani Daniels (10-2-2, 1 KO).
‘We’ll see what happens, but it’s clear that I would be interested in other belts,’ said the Mont Laurier resident on her social media when asked about the topic.
Now, it’s making things very clear, because ‘the other belts,’ Lani Daniels holds them all.
And so: ‘she would be our top choice for sure,’ also said the coach of the WBC queen, Stéphane Joanisse.
Same energy
Looking for answers, Punching Grace fought a 17-hour time difference to reach New Zealand by phone, where the double IBF champion had this to say about the Quebecer’s idea.
‘I would love to share the ring with her!’ exclaimed the Oceanian, in a polite call out, honoring her nickname ‘The Smiling Assassin.’
‘There aren’t a ton of options in our weight class, so I think it would be good for both of us, but also to give visibility and grow the division,’ continues the IBF woman boxing pioneer, both the first heavyweight and light heavyweight champion in the federation’s history.
What to expect
And if this fight were to materialize, what would a Daniels-Joanisse clash look like?
It’s often said that ‘styles make fights.’ Here, we’d have quite the combination.
“I have good technique because I don’t like getting hit for nothing, but I like to put pressure on my opponents. Watching some videos of Vanessa, you can see a fairly similar style, so I believe fans wouldn’t be disappointed,” describes the pride of Pipiwai, in the Te Horo valley, north of New Zealand.
But if both come forward, she’s confident to have the upper hands.
‘People are often surprised because in the ring, I’m a totally different person than outside,’ adds the ‘The Smiling Assassin’.
In the same basket
Outside the arena, thought, Daniels puts ‘The Assassin’ and simply smile. Always looking to help; no surprise that she ‘somehow’ became a nurse.
‘It’s an incredibly rewarding job, and I love it, but right now, I’m putting all my eggs in one basket to focus on my training and see where boxing can take me in the next two years,’ says the 35-year-old athlete, trained by John Conway who also serves as her manager.
Anecdote: when we called her, she was outside, on a farm. While she was speaking on speakerphone, while saying the ‘eggs in one basket’ thing, we could hear a kind of thematic crowing of Oceanian roosters and hens in the background.
Coming back to her decision, she made it after questioning her boxing future in recent years due to the lack of financial support her career faced. However, her most recent conquest of the IBF light heavyweight title last December convinced her to pursue her dream.
Still without a promoter today, she confirms, however, that her team is in discussions with several organizations.
To get in shape
Much like Leïla Beaudoin did in Quebec when discovering cardio boxing later in life, it’s ‘to get in shape’ that Lani, or Te Arani Moana Daniels, by her birth name, chose the noble art.
‘I think I was made to fight. But still, you have to respect the sport, so I realized that there was nothing like a fight to get in shape and stay in shape.’ recounts the athlete who put on gloves for the first time ‘around 23 or 24 years old’.
A handful of fights and an amateur national championship later, she decided to turn pro in 2017. To put it in perspective, it was just a few days after Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse fought Alejandra Jimenez in Mexico.
The second chance
This detail is mentioned because just like ‘Vany,’ Lani Daniels succeed on the second try. Early, her career started with a record of 4-2-2, including a 2019 unanimous decision loss against the WBO light heavyweight champion at the time, Geovana Peres.
She hasn’t lost since.
In May 2023, in an all NZ fight, she defeated Alrie Maleisea (6-2-1) to become the IBF heavyweight champion, a title she defended less than three months later in August. Then, last December, she went from 183 to 169 pounds to defeat Australian Desley Robinson (5-3, 1 KO) and win the vacant light heavyweight version of the same title.
Now a ‘champ-champ’, she approaches the next chapter of her career with the mentality of ‘anyone, anywhere, anytime.’ And so, why not cross the ocean for the first time?
‘My manager has already mentioned [Vanessa] to me, so I guess there have already been some discussions in the past… but yes, I would love to come to Canada, make a good fight, and show to you guys what I’m capable of,” concludes the double champion, ready to put any of her belts on the line for such a meeting.
