THERE is little doubt Jessica Messina has continued to make strong improvements on boxing's world stage.
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The 27-year-old flew out of Port Macquarie on Saturday bound for Ulan-Ude in Russia and her third crack at the 2019 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships.
One brief look at Messina's previous two attempts at the top level indicates this is perhaps her best shot at progressing to the medal rounds.
From there, anything is possible.
Her first experience back in 2016 in Kazakhstan saw her eliminated from the competition in the preliminary rounds before she went one step further and made the quarter-finals in India last year.
Messina said the disappointment of not yet making the medal rounds provided the motivation to keep picking herself up off the canvas.
"I'm just as good as these girls; they're not superheroes and on my day if I perform as best as I can I can beat anybody," she said.
"Having been there before, you know what to expect because you've fought a few of these girls before.
"Tough times don't last, but tough people do and just knowing I haven't reached what I wanted to yet keeps me motivated to keep going and be as good as I can."
Adding a few strings to her bow will make Messina a more complete all-round boxer and she has made a few minor adjustments to her style.
It is that learning experience from the previous two world championship disappointments that will benefit her the most.
"I've been working on different things that I can implement during the round so I'm not a one-dimensional fighter," she said.
"It's good to try and have different aspects like in close or out of range, but each time I've been getting better so hopefully I can make the medal rounds and bring back gold."
Messina will line up in the light welterweight (64 kilogram) division in Siberia in her first bout on Thursday and she will again have a few familiar faces in her corner.
Coach Dean Groth has been with Messina every step of the way since she joined the Port Macquarie Boxing Academy almost a decade ago.
He's felt the disappointment while he's also shared the excitement of victory and he will again be in the Port Macquarie product's corner.
"For me it's great to have the one coach because they know what works for me, how to amp me up and keep me going," Messina said.
"They know how I fight and I class some of these guys as my family so it's really helpful for me.
"Having them there with me, they feel all the emotions as well."
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