One large can of whoop-ass opened
The punters dressed up to the nines to watch fighters hitting the canvas with alarming frequency in the fifth annual Charity Boxing Event at Te Ahu on Saturday night.
The most anticipated fight on the card for many neutrals was the rematch between Lance O’Sullivan and Chaz Lazarus.
Lazarus was out for revenge after losing on points to the Good Doctor last time round, and word was he’d been hitting the gym determined to make amends for the previous encounter. The commitment paid off with victory in the second round by TKO.
In other results Axel Rawiri defeated Joseph Cook and Sean Windleborn Rawiri beat Steven Reichardt, both coming via round 2 TKOs, while Thomas Ridgely beat Tunney Penney with a TKO in round 3.
Selwyn Clark continued his past success in the event by beating Jason Windleborn; Connor O'Sullivan, called up three days beforehand, took down Rob Leef (giving away 10kg) with a TKO in round 3, and Ururiha Awarau beat Clint Tau — who had been called in at 2pm that day — on points in one of the night’s biggest hitting slugfests.
The sole women’s fight on the card was also one of the most entertaining with Emma Sun beating Emma Maaka on points.
Then Jason Kaihe’s superior size and reach proved too much for Luke Limbrick to contain. Floyd Chadwick downed Amez Rewita with a round 3 TKO before the final bout of the evening concluded proceedings in appropriate fashion with Aaron Ratcliffe beating John Wills on points, both boxers knocking each other to the canvas during the clash.
Behind the scenes, organisers were forced to find a number of last-minute replacements in the days and hours leading up to the event following the late withdrawal and no-show of several fighters on the card.
To the rescue was Hazely Windleborn, who dug deep into his well of networks to fill the holes, suggesting he could possibly give up his day job as a real estate agent and survive in the cut-throat world of fight promotion. The event was organised by the Kaitaia Sport and Leisure Trust with the proceeds going towards keeping the non-profit
Kaitaia Boxing Club gymnasium going.
KSLT spokesman Brendon Morrissey said that despite being in its fifth incarnation, the evening continued to be well supported by the community with more than 400 happy to pay for the privilege of seeing locals duking it out for a good cause. That turnout on Saturday night ensured there would be a reasonable profit after the estimated outlay of around $40,000 to run an event of this size
“A lot of moving parts and about six months of organisation” went into making the event happen, Morrissey said.