Kalani Herath takes on the boys at training and peppers the girls in the ring as Sri Lanka’s newest boxing exponent:
Kalani Herath, a 16-year-old student from Gateway International School, has taken the boxing world by storm. After training at Back2Fit for two and a half years, she has already won two Best Boxer awards on her debut, showcasing exceptional talent and dedication.
Her boxing journey began somewhat unexpectedly. Initially joining Back 2 Fit for fitness, it wasn’t long before her coaches Gihan Maduwantha and Manul Lakshitha, recognised her extraordinary talent.
“She initially joined for fitness, but we soon realised her technique was exceptional. Considering her age and school level, we believed she had the potential to go far in the sport. Last year, we tried to enter her into tournaments, but it didn’t work out. With two and a half years of training, we entered her in the 54kg category for her first competition (Donald Munasinghe Trophy).
“In the future, we hope to put her in the 48kg category by gradually reducing her weight. We want to prepare her for the Asian Under-22 Championship. Our target is to get her to the international junior level, aiming for international medals. That’s the focus,” says Maduwantha confidently.
Under the guidance of two Sports Science and Management graduates from Sri Jayewardenepura University, Maduwantha and Lakshitha, Kalani’s training has been meticulously planned, applying scientific methods to optimise her performance.
Lakshitha, who has done a research paper on achieving core body strength with plyometric exercises, said: “We don’t emphasise reducing weight; dehydration affects reaction time and core strength, which is critical for boxers. Our approach focusses on optimising performance with traditional core strength exercises combined with plyometrics.”
Kalani’s initial interest was in taekwondo, but due to flexibility issues after losing significant weight during the COVID-19 pandemic, she transitioned to boxing. “I didn’t really want to do boxing at first. I wanted to do taekwondo. But then, I was really fat back then (69kg). So, during COVID, I lost around 16 kilos. And then, I wasn’t flexible enough to do taekwondo. So, I was like, maybe I’ll do boxing then,” said Kalani who is now a pencil slim 54kg.
Hailing from a family with a rich sporting background, she didn’t need much persuasion to do sports. Her father Narada was a former Kingswood College, Kandy hockey captain and Sri Lanka schools star while her mother, Vindya, won many laurels in table tennis for Pushpadana Girls College, Kandy. Encouraged by her sporting parents, Kalani found her passion for boxing and has never looked back.
Her first competitive experience came about a year and a half into her training, participating in an exhibition bout at Peradeniya University. Her performance impressed everyone, leading to her participation in the Western Province selections for the Donald Munasinghe Trophy tournament.
“I’ve always been keen on sports. I’ve been playing table tennis since the age of seven. I’m the school captain in table tennis. I did a lot of sports and stopped. I used to play badminton and basketball, and I did swimming both outside and in school. I only represented the school in table tennis before starting boxing,” says Kalani.
She first got interested in boxing around November 2021 after her aunt introduced her to Back2Fit but her father Narada was apprehensive of her doing boxing at the beginning.
“I went with Kalani to the gym since my wife urged me to stay and support. Training was three days per week then. I found that the people coming to box were of a different calibre –professional and disciplined.
“At first, I had misconceptions about the sport, fearing injuries. Coach Gihan (Maduwantha) explained that most health issues in boxing come from dehydration, not the sport itself. If you reduce your weight gradually, you won’t have trouble,” says Narada who continues to indulge in cross fit training.
“After about one and a half years of training, they asked us if she wanted to participate in a tournament. I said if she likes it, I have no issue. She had an exhibition match at Peradeniya University, performing very well despite facing an experienced opponent,” recalled Narada.
Receiving a bye in the Western Province tournament, Kalani won her two bouts easily and was adjudged the Best Boxer in her maiden competition.
“The matches were of one-minute duration whereas she had trained to fight three minute rounds,” said Narada.
Kalani Herath (left) from Gateway International is declared the winner over DWK Lakmali (right) of Batuhena MV by referee Samudra Bandara in the final of the girls Under-54 kgs at the Donald Munasinghe boxing meet held recently in Nawalapitiya. Kalani was adjudged the best boxer
However, she had to overcome many obstacles even before entering the ring in the All Island Donald Munasinghe Trophy meet held in Nawalapitiya. She was scheduled to sit for the London O/L examination in Colombo on the day of her first bout.
She did the paper in Kandy and her bout rescheduled thanks to the magnanimity of her opponent from Hemamali Girls College who gave her the toughest time in the ring before winning the Best Boxer of the meet.
Balancing boxing and education is another rare attribute of Kalani according to her mother Vindya.
“She didn’t go for any tuition, only had some guidance for weak subjects. We encourage her to do sports and she likes reading as a hobby,” said Vindya.
Training five days a week, Kalani balances her rigorous training schedule with her academic responsibilities and sparring with boys at the gym has significantly boosted her confidence and honed her skills.
“When I get into the ring, I feel pretty confident because of my training. Sparring with boys at the gym, where there are only two or three girls, has also boosted my confidence. My approach is to move around and throw a few punches first. I don’t have a specific strategy; I just go with the flow,” says Kalani.
Kalani’s coaches see a bright future for her, not just at the national level but internationally. “Our target is to get her to the junior international level, aiming for medals,” says coach Maduwantha.
Kalani herself is determined to continue her boxing journey. “I didn’t have any ambitions before, but now I want to continue boxing, maybe even represent Sri Lanka,” she says.
Winning the Western Province meet and All Island Best Boxer awards has brought significant recognition. “My school recognises my achievements, and there are even requests to start a boxing programme because of me,” she said. Her parents have been incredibly supportive, encouraging her to maintain discipline and confidence.
“My academic goals keep changing; I once wanted to become a lawyer, but now I’m interested in fashion designing,” she says gearing up to continue her father’s business.
As a schoolboy, coach Maduwantha was a one-time sparring partner of Gold Coast Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Anusha Kodituwakku and had an idea of how the performance level of girls can be improved.
After briefly representing Police, Maduwantha took up coaching at Sri Jayewardenepura University in 2018 with his first successful experiment being former Sri Lanka star Purnima Jayasuriya who won a silver medal at the Eindhoven Cup in the Netherlands.
“I had the idea of modelling her (Kalani’s) training after Purnima Jayasuriya, who beat two national champions. Our objective is to apply sports science principles to training. For example, traditional core strength exercises combined with plyometrics can develop power, which applied to Kalani,” says Maduwantha, 30, who founded Back2Fit in 2020.
“We’ve done research and published papers on these methods, focussing on optimising performance rather than just traditional training routines. This scientific approach has shown success with our boxers achieving national rankings and best boxer titles,” says coach Lakshitha, an outstanding product of Mahanama College, Colombo.
A Stubbs Shield winner and recipient of the Most Emerging Boxer title in 2016, Lakshitha emphasises a scientific approach to coaching to developed world-class qualities in boxers like Kalani.
“Training with boys, her defensive and offensive skills have significantly improved. Her intelligence and discipline make it easy to teach her and she’s shown the ability to adapt to situations with experience.
“We believe Kalani can achieve international success with her potential and the right training,” says Lakshitha who was part of the MAS Development squad in Pallekele and trained with reputed coaches like Manju Wanniarachchi, Lal Amunugama and TB Harsha Kumara in addition to gaining the opportunity to train with a Ukrainian coach for three months.
Kalani’s story is one of dedication, discipline, and determination. With the support of her family, the expertise of her coaches and her own unwavering commitment, Kalani is well on her way to achieving great things in boxing.
Her journey from a fitness enthusiast to a champion boxer serves as an inspiration to many young athletes and she is poised to follow in the footsteps of champions like Anusha Kodituwakku.
“Boxing is a tough sport, but it has given me confidence and discipline. I train hard, balancing my studies and sport and I hope to continue achieving bigger things in boxing,” said Kalani.
