Latter-day Saint boxer repping her faith, family and culture in title fight

Sports have “sacred spaces” — those revered locales synonymous with athletic events across generations.

For baseball, it’s Fenway Park or Wrigley Field. In golf, Augusta National. For horse racing, Churchill Downs. And in car racing, Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Boxing’s sacred space?

New York City’s Madison Square Garden.

Famously located in the heart of Midtown Manhattan, the circular venue has played host to almost all the Sweet Science legends: Ali. Louis. Marciano. Frazier. Tyson. Utah’s Gene Fullmer. And both Sugar Rays — Robinson and Leonard.

But on Friday night, those Garden legends will make room inside the ropes for an affable Latter-day Saint woman who enjoys a good scrap.

And like those boxing greats that preceded her in the MSG ring, Lani Daniels hopes to make history. The New Zealand native will fight for the WBO/IBF super middleweight title against reigning belt-holder Shadasia Green in an 8 p.m. MDT title bout broadcast on ESPN.

Daniels knows Madison Square Garden’s boxing mystique. And she’s a self-declared boxing fan.

“I want to move like Sugar Ray — but when I’m forcefully punching, I try to mimic Marvin Hagler,” she said, flashing a big grin before throwing a swift pair of jabs at an imaginary opponent.

But don’t expect the “The Smiling Assassin” — who long ago decided not to fight on Sundays — to be overwhelmed by her historic surroundings Friday. Title fights are nothing new to Daniels. She’s already held world championship belts in two divisions.

And, as Daniels told the Deseret News during a recent Utah visit, she plans to walk out of Madison Square Garden with a third belt.

But regardless of the bout’s outcome Friday, expect Daniels to once again hold her head and gloves high, representing her family, her country, her Maori heritage — and her Latter-day Saint faith.

“Lani is known to be ‘The Smiling Assassin’ — and she does indeed have a beautiful smile,” observed family friend and Orem resident Caroline Kreutzkamp.

“But it’s her beautiful soul that you remember long afterwards.”

Strength in Latter-day Saint faith and Maori culture

So how did a 37-year old Latter-day Saint Relief Society sister from a small Maori village find herself plying her trade on multiple continents and in front of global audiences?

Truth be told, Daniels didn’t lace up the boxing gloves for the first time several years ago with any visions of Madison Square Garden. She was initially just trying to get a bit healthier.

“Honestly, it’s been a weight management journey for me,” said Daniels. “Boxing has been a tool that I’ve used to manage my weight.”

But her long arc in the sport is also deeply connected to family.

For several generations, Daniels’ family has belonged to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in New Zealand. She points proudly to her devoted parents — and a “strong line of women” who were all devout Latter-day Saints, and proud Maoris.

“The church and the Maori culture align so well because family is the core of it all. … We all go to church because we are all family,” she said.

Daniels traces God’s hand in her life, even during dark moments far more painful than anything she’s endured battling pro fighters inside the ring.

Finding comfort inside the ropes

Daniels was still a teen when her young brother Tukaha lost his battle with cancer. He was 11-years-old.

“After he passed,” she remembered, “I kind of swirled.”

Experiencing deep grief, Daniels remembers doing “everything that I probably shouldn’t have been doing” to help fill an unfillable void.

“I was trying to make sense of the world. Trying to make sense of God and if he was real — and why he was doing this to us.”

She began using alcohol and drugs. “Trying to find anything that would make me happy.”

Daniels remembers hiding those dangerous choices from her parents. She didn’t want to disappoint them or compound their pain. “That just came from the respect that I had for my parents and the church. Because I think deep down, I knew (the gospel) was true.”

Boxing would later offer Daniels a lifeline.

Her sister, Caroline, had started boxing and, on one occasion, competed in a charity bout to honor cancer patients.

Daniels remembers watching her sister emerge from her own grief through boxing. The grueling preparation and commitment demanded by the sport doubled as healing balm for Caroline, physically and emotionally.

“I just saw the natural high that Caroline had going through the process of preparing for her first fight — and I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh — I want some of that.’”

The younger sister decided to step inside the ropes and, in her words, “Have a go.”

No Sunday fights – No Olympics

Most people are not wired for combat sports such as boxing. You volunteer to swap blows with another person. The risks are real — and adjustments must be made at, well, upper-cut speeds.

Remember Mike Tyson’s pugilistic words of wisdom: “Everybody’s got a plan until they get punched in the face.”

For Daniels, the fighter’s courage came naturally.

But those essential boxing techniques — sitting down on punches, throwing effective combinations, slipping blows, aligning the feet and navigating the ring — have come to Daniels only after years in the gym.

“And I’m still learning — but I like the challenge,” she said. “I just love the science of boxing — countering what someone is coming at me with.”

After competing in several amateur bouts, boxing threw Daniels a left hook.

She was ranked as New Zealand’s top middleweight, positioning her to make her nation’s Olympic team. But making the national team meant fighting on Sundays. So Daniels passed.

She explains her “No fights on Sundays” choice without a hint of sanctimony. Daniels simply decided it was the best choice. But it was still tough.

“I wanted to fight — but I knew I shouldn’t fight,” she said, laughing at the memory. “But I was blessed that I didn’t fight on Sundays, because look at where I am now.”

Daniels made her professional debut in New Zealand in 2017.

As a boxer, Caroline Daniels spotted her sister checking all the boxes to becoming a skilled fighter.

“I always knew that if Lani committed herself to the sport 100%, she would go places,” said the elder sibling. “In fact, I feel like I knew that before she even knew that. I would always encourage her, because she just had more of that natural ability that I wish had.”

Once turning pro, Daniels began the long task of building a record that eventually led to a pair of world titles — reportedly becoming the first New Zealand-born boxer of Maori descent to accomplish that feat in two divisions.

She fought her maiden bout on American soil last July in a title fight in Detroit against Claressa Shields — a two-time Olympic champion regarded as the world’s best female boxer. Daniels went the distance, losing the fight by decision.

“By the end of 10 rounds,” remembered Kreutzkamp, “Lani had won (the fans’) hearts with her determination, skill and sportsmanship.”

After the fight, a long line that reportedly included Muhammad Ali’s wife soon formed to collect an autograph from the Latter-day Saint athlete.

Never alone — in a lonely sport

Boxing is perhaps the quintessential individual sport. It’s lonesome.

And when Daniels answers the opening bell Friday at Madison Square Garden, she will be on her own. She can’t pass the gloves to teammates when things get rough. They can’t be found.

But Daniels never feels alone during a bout. She only has to glance to her corner to find big sister Caroline. And she can’t forget she is fighting on behalf of her family, her faith, her nation and her people.

She admits sometimes feeling the weight of those representations. “But I also feel like I’m getting better at dealing with it or holding it. I feel like my shoulders have gotten stronger because of it.”

Daniels added that she’s “blessed” for doing exactly what she’s meant to be doing.

“That gives me faith and strength to do what I need to do,” said Daniels, looking ahead to Friday’s fight. “I’m actually excited. I’m excited to go and just keep learning.”

Praying before her fights keeps her connected to loved ones and fans that she knows are uttering invocations on her behalf. “I always pray; it’s a comforting thing.”

Her father, Mike Daniels, taught his daughter to seek divine assistance before each of her fights.

“It’s a protection over not just me, but my opponent as well,” she said. “Yes, we’re there to take each other’s heads off, I suppose. But at the end of the day, once the last bell has rung, I have nothing but respect for my opponent.”

The boxer’s concern for others isn’t limited to the fellow fighters. When not competing, Daniels works as a mental health nurse, caring for teens and children battling one their own unique fights.

“The work that I do with our kids just aligns so well with boxing. It feels like it’s all entangled together,” she said.

She has also worked in New Zealand to support suicide awareness and Maori gang-prevention efforts.

After Friday’s fight Daniels isn’t certain of her next boxing decision. But she knows she will keep serving her community. “I want to do more of that kind of work — and show our people that we can still succeed regardless of the challenges that we face in life.”

A world champ — with Utahns in her corner

Allen and Caroline Kreutzkamp became acquainted with Daniels and her family in 2023 while serving as Latter-day Saint missionaries in Pipiwai, New Zealand.

Since then, the couple’s connection to the boxer and her relatives has grown beyond friendship.

“The Maori word for family is ‘whanau,’” said Caroline Kreutzkamp. “These are not just our friends or neighbors, they are family. Whanau.”

The Kreutzkamps’ Orem home becomes something of a base camp for Daniels and her sister when the fight game brings them to the United States.

“I’m just so grateful that we have them supporting us. And not just me, but my family,” Daniels said.

At first glance, the Kreutzkamps’ inviting residence doesn’t appear like it could double as a boxing gym. But with a bit of equipment and ingenuity, the two sisters transform the backyard into a boxing training ground.

The Kreutzkamps say their admiration for Daniels stretches beyond prizefighting prowess.

“In the ring after Lani’s fights, and in all sincerity and humility, she thanks her Heavenly Father first,” said Caroline Kreutzkamp.

“And it’s not like in, say, Hollywood, where they do it for show. She sincerely means it when she thanks her Heavenly Father.”