Leading in to her title bout against Kate McLaren on Saturday, Enja Ryan was motivated by two factors.
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The first was personal - it grated on Ryan that McLaren was the top boxer in the Australian women's welterweight rankings despite her titles and fights against more proven opponents.
The second was the responsibility she felt to the young boxing fans in regional NSW.
"I used that a little bit this camp, to get women's boxing in regional areas on the map," Ryan said.
"I used that as a bit of purpose to help fuel this fight. I want to help kids out in country areas, to show them that we don't have to be in the city and have huge sponsors.
"Us country kids can do it."
It was clearly effective fuel on the fire of Ryan's blazing talent.
The 32-year-old put on a clinic against McLaren, and finished their eight-round bout in front of an "awesome" home crowd at the Dubbo RSL tired, sweaty, but unblemished.
And though one of the judges scored the fight in McLaren's favour, Ryan never doubted the result.
"Two of the judges had it 78-74, so that was pretty massive," she said.
"It was pretty obvious [who the winner was]. I did drop her a few times, and in a couple of the rounds they were close to stopping her."
Ryan was, however, gracious after her split decision victory and praised the "tough" McLaren, who she said "kept coming forward".
"It was a good, competitive fight."
With two defences of her WBC Australasian title now in the books, Ryan is looking towards bigger and better things in 2024.
This year, she drew with Zoe Putorak in February before going on to finish Noppaket Srisawas at TRECC in July.
Before she had even left the venue on Saturday night, Ryan said a WBC representative had spoken to her about what next year might hold.
"I'm looking forward to stepping up and going to the next title with the WBC," she said.
"I want to keep moving up in the belts and the rankings ... which will hopefully lead to some international fights. That's what the WBC official said to us last night."
But for now, the Gunnedah resident is excited for a beach holiday with her husband, Wade, and their dogs.
They will spend the Christmas break at Shell Bay on the central coast, which she said "will be lovely".
"It'll be nice to catch up with some friends and family over Christmas," Ryan said.
"I'm looking forward to some fresh seafood and the beach."
