Northland boxer Lani Daniels fighting to be women’s world heavyweight champion

Lani Daniels, of Pipiwai, Whangārei, shows the destructive power that has earned her a world title shot in Auckland on Saturday.

Northland boxer Lani Daniels is gearing up for a historic world title fight in Auckland at the weekend and hoping her previous big-fight experience will bring her the title.

Daniels has done the hard work and is now ready for the historic women’s IBF world heavyweight title fight against Alrie Meleisea at Eventfinda Stadium on Saturday night.

This bout is historic because this is the first world title fight contested between two New Zealand-born boxers and the first time between Māori and Pasifika boxers. Both boxers are ranked No. 1 and 2 across the world boxing bodies, making this a true best-of-the-best world title fight for the heavyweight division.

This might be Daniels’ last fight because she has stated that win or lose, she plans on retiring after this fight.

The only reason she would continue to fight is if she gets big paydays in the future. Meleisea plans to fight on regardless of whether she wins or loses.

Daniels has been here before, though, and is hoping that experience will see her in good stead on Saturday.

In March 2019, Daniels took on Brazilian-born New Zealand citizen Geovana Peres for the WBO world light heavyweight title. Peres won the fight by unanimous decision, becoming the first LGBT person to represent New Zealand to win a world boxing title.

Daniels believes she has the experience as a world title contender going into this fight.

International records-keeping website Boxrec has practically dubbed this a 50-50 fight. Both boxers have a 47 per cent chance of winning this fight, with a 6 per cent chance of the bout being a draw.

However, the stats weren’t always like that. Earlier in the year, Daniels was 6 per cent ahead of Meleisea but was changed due to the number of months between now and both fighters’ previous fights.

Meleisea has the support of Joseph Parker and David Tua. Leading into the fight, former world heavyweight champion Joseph Parker sent a video of support backing Meleisea in the fight. On Radio Samoa, legendary Kiwi heavyweight boxer David Tua was interviewed alongside Meleisea, showing his support for her.

Meleisea weighed heavier in her previous fight compared with Daniels — 98.2kg compared with Daniels’ 83.5kg. This could give Meleisea more power in the fight.

But Daniels is more of a pick-and-move type of boxer and less weight gives her an advantage with speed and movement.

Meleisea has fought in only the heavyweight division her whole career whereas Daniels has fought in the middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions.

Daniels also has more experience as a boxer in both professional and amateur boxing careers. She has had 86 rounds as a professional boxer, as well as five years of amateur boxing. Meleisea has 43 rounds of boxing, but she has also fought in MMA and kickboxing. She also has the ability to cause an upset, which she did on her debut. They are of similar height, but Daniels will have the reach advantage.

The records:

■ Daniels’ record is 7 wins, 2 losses, and 2 draws with her only losses being to WBO world champion Peres. She is a three-time New Zealand champion and the only ANBF women’s heavyweight Australasian champion.

■ Meleisea’s record is 6 wins, 1 loss, and 1 draw. She is a two-time New Zealand heavyweight champion and a former UBF Asia Pacific heavyweight champion.

The IBF world heavyweight title fight between Daniels and Meleisea will happen at Eventfinda Stadium (formerly known as North Shore Events Centre) on the North Shore, Auckland. The fight will be televised on the Sky Sports Pop-up channel (which either will be ch 600 or 601). The event will be televised internationally on PPV with FITE TV.