Whanganui Chronicle
  • Whanganui Chronicle home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Taranaki
  • National Park
  • Whakapapa
  • Ohakune
  • Raetihi
  • Taihape
  • Marton
  • Feilding
  • Palmerston North

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • New Plymouth
  • Whanganui
  • Palmertson North
  • Levin

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Whanganui Chronicle

River City Boxing Club fighter Egelani Taito knocked out of national championship contention in first round of first fight in Christchurch

By Iain Hyndman
Sport Reporter·Whanganui Chronicle·
12 Oct, 2018 01:25 AM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

There were no hard feelings after River City Boxing Club's Egelani Taito (left) was knocked senseless by double Commonwealth Games gold medallist David Nyika at the nationals in Christchurch.

There were no hard feelings after River City Boxing Club's Egelani Taito (left) was knocked senseless by double Commonwealth Games gold medallist David Nyika at the nationals in Christchurch.

River City Boxing Club's Egelani Taito was effectively beaten before he began his attempt at a title at the Boxing NZ 2018 National Championships in Christchurch last week.

The 26-year-old Taito drew double Commonwealth gold boxer David Nyika first up and was immediately on the back foot.

Trainer Eddie Tofa advised his fighter to go straight on attack if he was to have any chance of beating such a formidable opponent.

"I told him to attack, attack, attack - it was the only way he was going to beat Nyika," Tofa said.

"Unfortunately, two minutes into the first round Egelani walked straight into Nyika's right hand and started staggering. He didn't go down, but the referee saw his eyes rolling and looked over at me. I had the towel ready to through into the ring. It's our responsibility as trainers to look after our fighters, especially in the amateur ranks.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"It was such a shame and just bad luck to draw Nyika first up. At the nationals it's a knockout competition, once you're beaten, you're out. For the first few minutes of the bout Egelani boxed well and he will get his chance, he has plenty of time. The aim is to get him to the stage where he can represent his country and to do that we need to go well at the nationals."

Tofa said fighting in the Elite heavyweight open division, fighters had to weigh in between 81kg and 91kg.

"My boy was at the bottom end of that weight scale and Nyika at the top end and all muscle and abs, no fat. Nyika is also much taller than Egelani. The rules of amateur boxing means he has a 28-day stand down period before he can fight again, but hopefully he will be ready in time to compete at our club championships on November 10," Tofa said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Taito is the current North Island Golden Gloves champion, having won the title with two 5-0 points wins at the tournament in Taupo in June. Taito has had 12 fights in his amateur career, with 10 required before boxers can qualify for nationals.

Nyika went on to win the title with the referee also stopping the final in the first round. Nyika was seeking to qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Whanganui Chronicle

Why Ruapehu voted against bigger water model

11 Jul 05:02 AM
Whanganui Chronicle

Search for missing man continues after car pulled from river

10 Jul 11:09 PM
Whanganui Chronicle

Community group seeks to manage historic reserve

10 Jul 06:00 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Why Ruapehu voted against bigger water model

Why Ruapehu voted against bigger water model

11 Jul 05:02 AM

Officials say a multi-council body would save their community $40 million.

Search for missing man continues after car pulled from river

Search for missing man continues after car pulled from river

10 Jul 11:09 PM
Community group seeks to manage historic reserve

Community group seeks to manage historic reserve

10 Jul 06:00 PM
Chaos as Ruapehu council rejects officials' advice on water

Chaos as Ruapehu council rejects officials' advice on water

10 Jul 03:15 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Whanganui Chronicle e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Whanganui Chronicle
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP