Hawkes Bay Today
  • Hawke's Bay Today home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Video
  • 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

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Havelock North
  • Central Hawke's Bay
  • Tararua

Media

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

Weather

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Gisborne

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 / Hawkes Bay Today

Boxing: Hawke's Bay's Beau O'Brien to take on Kiwi legend Gunnar Jackson

By Shane Hurndell
Sports reporter·Hawkes Bay Today·
10 Sep, 2018 08:00 PM4 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

Beau O'Brien (left) and Napier Boxing Club clubmate Toa Leutele will fight for international professional titles in Taradale next month. Photo/File

Beau O'Brien (left) and Napier Boxing Club clubmate Toa Leutele will fight for international professional titles in Taradale next month. Photo/File

Hawke's Bay professional boxer Beau O'Brien had been dealt an opponent change for his next fight but he couldn't be happier.

"I've been wanting to fight Gunnar for four years. Some people would shy away from him but he is a legend of the sport and you have to test yourself against those sort of blokes," O'Brien said, referring to Tauranga-based four-time national champion Gunnar Jackson.

O'Brien, 27, was to take on Aucklander Harley Love in a bout scheduled for 10 three-minute rounds at the Corporate Contender event in Taradale's Pettigrew-Green Arena on October 6.

Read more: Boxing: First time international professional titles at stake in Bay
Boxing: DJ Jayrasik swaps music role for the ring in Battle for Life

But Love withdrew after taking a pounding at a recent event in Auckland, according to promoter Scotty Thomson.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Jackson, 32, boasts a professional record of 27 wins, 12 by knockout, 11 losses and four draws.

In 2014 he took on four-time world champion and former State of Origin rugby league star Anthony Mundine and lost by a unanimous points decision.

The vacant Universal Boxing Federation's Asia Pacific and New Zealand Professional Boxing Association's middleweight titles will be up for grabs.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

O'Brien's Napier Boxing Club clubmate and fellow professional Toa Leutele will fight Wellingtonian Cory Enoka for the vacant heavyweight titles from the same two organisations.

"I was mentally preparing for Gunnar. If I could have anyone as a replacement fighter it would be him," O'Brien said.

He agreed the advantage of fighting such a well-known opponent is the fact there is no shortage of footage.

"There isn't going to be a stoppage. I'm going to have to fight hard and fast and try and be technical. There's no point trying to lure him into traps as he has probably written half the traps out there.

Discover more

Business

Hot property: Buyers scramble for first homes

10 Sep 06:07 PM

Aussie upheavals great smoke alarm reminder

10 Sep 06:04 PM

Tuis coach cautious in countdown to TV game

17 Sep 06:00 PM

League: Bridge Pa captain gone for season

17 Sep 08:00 PM

"Fitness isn't going to be an issue I'm training five times a day ... it's going to be an awesome show for the Hawke's Bay fans," O'Brien said.

"Obviously this fight will be a huge step up for me. But I will still be doing everything to try to get the win and if I can it will open up so many potential fights for me particularly on the American circuit," O'Brien explained.

"I'm excited about it and I love being the underdog. I'm more excited about this one than the one in Fiji back in June," he added.

O'Brien was referring to his fifth-round TKO against previously unbeaten Fijian Silevini Nawai for the World Boxing Foundation Australasian middleweight belt.

That took O'Brien's professional record to six wins, a draw and a loss.

Thomson is rapt to have secured Jackson.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"It took a fair bit of negotiating and I had to dig a little bit deeper into my pocket but you have to do that to get the best boxer and I'm sure it will be worth it."

"Gunnar has never been on the canvas and is to his weight division what Joe Parker is to his," Thomson said.

Leutele, 24, will be having his first fight since winning an eight-man heavyweight eliminator competition in Melbourne in July. Thomson said Enoka has moved up to the heavyweight ranks after winning multiple national cruiserweight titles.

Should Leutele beat Enoka, he will have the opportunity to fight Aucklander Junior Fa for the New Zealand heavyweight title.

Parker, Shane Cameron, David Tua and Sonny Bill Williams are among the fighters who have held this national title.

In addition to the two professional bouts, nine corporate fights scheduled for three two-minute rounds involving Hawke's Bay fighters as well as boxers from throughout the lower North Island will be staged.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Thomson pointed out these corporate fighters are regular boxers, unlike those who train for charity bouts.

"They don't want to be amateurs but they don't consider themselves ready to go professional but fight regularly."

Tickets for the event are available from Ticketek and fans wanting to reserve ringside tables are to contact promoter Scotty Thomson on 021 190 0995.

THE CARD
Katie Hatton (Napier Boxing) v Orewia Spooner (Gisborne); Ripeka Dwyer (Highlander Boxing, Napier) v Rebecca Forrest (Wellington); Junior Alivale (Highlander Boxing, Napier) v Charlie Rudd (Kapiti Boxing, Wellington); Nina Houston (Napier Boxing) v Stacey Loye (The Lab, Napier); Dom Leiataua (Highlander Boxing, Napier) v Tabai Tumanako (Lion Pitt, Wellington); Tommy Harrison (Napier Boxing) v Gerhard Van Vuuren (Wellington); Jimmy Pentland (The Lab, Napier) v Callum Aldiss (Wellington); Cody Thomson (Highlander Boxing, Napier) v TBC; Elliot Sharp (Kapiti Boxing, Wellington) v TBC; Toa Leutele (Napier Boxing) v Cory Enoka (Bellview Boxing, Wellington); Beau O'Brien (Napier Boxing) v Gunnar Jackson (Tauranga).

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Sport

Premium
Hawkes Bay Today

Black Ferns: Tui pair on the big bird for matches in South Africa

Premium
Hawkes Bay Today

Two CHB wins on finals weekend at McLean Park

Hawkes Bay Today

Club rugby stars announced in Magpies NPC squad


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Sport

Premium
Premium
Black Ferns: Tui pair on the big bird for matches in South Africa
Hawkes Bay Today

Black Ferns: Tui pair on the big bird for matches in South Africa

The two started their senior women's rugby for Hawke's Bay while still at school.

17 Jul 04:00 AM
Premium
Premium
Two CHB wins on finals weekend at McLean Park
Hawkes Bay Today

Two CHB wins on finals weekend at McLean Park

15 Jul 06:00 PM
Club rugby stars announced in Magpies NPC squad
Hawkes Bay Today

Club rugby stars announced in Magpies NPC squad

15 Jul 06:00 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
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
  • Hawke's Bay Today e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Hawke's Bay Today
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • 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