Gisborne charity boxing event to go ahead after organisers agree to drop some fighters

A charity boxing event in Gisborne will proceed after police requested some fighters be dropped. Photo / Getty Images

By Paris Ibell and Lauren Crimp of RNZ

A charity boxing event in Gisborne is going ahead – but only after organisers agreed to a police request to drop some fighters from the line-up.

A similar fight night in Hawke’s Bay’s Wairoa was denied a permit last week, with police citing a heightened risk of gang-related violence.

Gisborne Fight for Life promoter Kim-Maree Larby said the event was “bigger than just a couple of people”, and making sure it was allowed to happen was the main priority.

“All we look for is for our club to make a little bit of money, for the community to have a great night out, and for fighters to enjoy a journey that they’ve been on for the last 13 weeks,” Larby said.

Police had told her that there were “some concerns” with a few people on the fight card.

“If they remained on our event then the event possibly wouldn’t go through. So I just removed them from the event.”

Fighters understood that police had the final say over who was allowed to take part, she said.

“If they [police] say that they’re not to fight then I will go with whatever the police recommendation is, to make sure our event is as safe as possible.”

Communicating with police over the safety of the Fight for Life events was nothing new, and happened every year, she said.

Larby said she felt for the Wairoa community whose event was cancelled.

“I do feel very sad for them, because I know how important this event is for our community.

“We’re stoked to see our event go ahead for another year and we wish Wairoa the best of luck for next year.”

She called on the Gisborne community to make sure everyone was well-behaved at the event on November 29, which was now sold out.

“We want boxing to go ahead as safe as possible, and at the same time the community that comes out to watch it to be sitting in a safe environment as well.”