SHIVA Toolsie, 18, does not just want to be a kickboxing champion at home in Trinidad and Tobago, as he has goals of competing and excelling on the international circuit.
The University of the West Indies (UWI) student won the featherweight (60kg) title at the National Kickboxing Championships held on November 16 at the Eastern Regional Indoor Sport Arena by a second round knockout in the four-round final bout.
Toolsie has been kickboxing since 2022 and started boxing in 2023.
He has six victories in kickboxing with four of them being technical knockout. In boxing, Toolsie has also shown his pedigree with four wins out of four. A member of Evolution Kickboxing, Toolsie is under the guidance of coaches Jason Ramoutar and Keele Lawrence-Chan.
Speaking about the National Kickboxing championships, Toolsie said, "(It) was one of the faster fights for the year...but I have been fighting whole year non-stop, so when I came down to the ring it was just like an average day of hard sparring."
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Toolsie said his strength is kickboxing. "I would say I do better in the kickboxing because it allows me to use both hands and legs and I prefer the intensity."
The Cunupia resident, who grew up in Aranguez, has a tough training regime as he goes through his paces six days per week, two hours a day leading up to a bout.
Strength work and running are an integral part of his training.
Toolsie is not limiting himself to competing on the local circuit. "I take kickboxing and boxing very seriously because it is a passion. I want to go further and go international after this."
To reach that level, Toolsie said he will have to do more intense preparation which includes more high-level sparring.
When he started his kickboxing journey two years ago, competitions were few and far between as the world was recovering from the covid19 pandemic. Toolsie said the fight calendar is now a busy one.
"After covid was finished and fighting had now start back in Trinidad it would not have had many events...but now as everything started back to flow, I find it have a lot of fights. For September I would have fought back to back to back to back."
All opponents must be taken seriously, Toolsie said. "I respect everybody that goes into the ring because it takes a lot to go in and from my point of view it is the best feeling because I get to go and represent my team and my country."
Toolsie represented TT against Venezuelan fighters at the 2024 Dragon Cup Caribbean, held at the National Cycling Centre in Couva in August.
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