The attack - captured entirely on CCTV cameras - only stopped when Felise's friend managed to intervene.
Eli died in hospital the next day, as a result of the injuries inflicted by Felise.
Felise eventually pleaded guilty to a charge of manslaughter.
In November 2018 he was jailed for seven years and was ordered to serve a minimum of three years and six months behind bars before he is eligible for parole.
Myron Robert Alf Felise, 30, admitted the manslaughter of 18-year-old Eli Francis Holtz. Photo / Greg Bowker
He then filed an appeal against his sentence.
The appeal - which was filed after the usual time period for such an application - was based on Felise's complaint that Justice Gerard van Bohemen adopted a sentence starting point that was "too high".
Further, the judge "denied him a discount for his post-traumatic stress disorder" and " overlooked a causal link between the offending and his traumatic and deprived background".
The Court of Appeal allowed the late application, but dismissed the appeal in its entirety.
A decision was released today.
"We are not persuaded that the starting point was too high," said Justice Forrie Miller in the decision.
"An allowance can be made for mental illness at the first stage of the sentencing analysis if it has a causal connection to the offending.
"Justice Van Bohemen did not accept that it did, and we agree."
He said a psychologist's report about Felise's mental health presented to the appeal court judges was "speculative" and overlooked the causal effect of intoxication when expressing an opinion about causation.
"The camera footage conveys measured action rather than a reflex response, and it shows that Mr Felise had adequate opportunity to reflect on his actions.
"He brushed aside an associate who tried to stop him. He was under no threat when he attacked Mr Holtz."
Justice Miller said that " gross intoxication was the likely trigger" of the attack.
"The upshot is that Mr Felise cannot attribute the offence to anything other than his willed action," he ruled.
Eli Holtz died after being viciously beaten in Auckland's CBD in January. Photo / Supplied
It was not the first time Felise had been involved in a violent killing.
When he was 22 he and six other men were charged with murdering Navtej Singh during a robbery at his Manurewa liquor store on June 7, 2008.
That was also factored in to the Appeal Court decision.
"Mr Felise had fallen back into old patterns of behaviour only three years after being released from prison for a very serious violent offence in which he was fuelled by drink," said Justice MIller.
"He failed to absorb and apply the lessons of that experience and the treatment he received for substance abuse.
