Boxing: Christmas with a Punch goes off with a bang (+video)

The Christmas with a Punch corporate fight night in Rotorua went off with a bang last night.

There was plenty of haymakers, cheering and even some classy boxing during the event held at the Rotorua Girls' High School arena.

Event organiser Aaron Warren said there was a lot of good feedback following the fights, and he said about 800 to 1000 people packed into the arena to watch the bouts.

"The fighters loved it. Even the losers came out like winners," Warren said. "And the great thing is no-one got hurt. Only one person put the other one down, and that was in the last round, and they are best mates."

It is the third time the RotoVegas Boxing Gym has organised the event, which sees local personalities, business people and sportspeople go toe-to-toe in the ring. There was a total of 32 locals who took part across 16 bouts.

A nice story during the night was that of Lauren Monro, whose fiance Slade King proposed to her in the ring during the Christmas with a Punch event last year in Rotorua.
Monro decided to fight this year and took on Amanda Te Whau, beating her on a split decision.

"She was proposed to last year and they are getting married later this month, and Slade was in her corner for the fight," Warren said. "She is a classy fighter and she definitely showed a lot of class on the night."

Warren said he was probably most impressed with Monro, whose fight with Te Whau was a crowd favourite, and another fighter Carl Gage.

"I tought Carl Gage was also quite classy. That was his third corporate fight and he has had three wins."

The Rotovegas Boxing Gym is hosting another fight in April which will be between local teachers.

Warren thanked all those people who helped out on the night and all the supporters.
Each fighter represented either the Blue Team or Red Team, with the Red Team winning 11-5.

Results:
? Ladies: Chanelle O'Bryan def Alex Bradley*, Devena Smith lost to Jinny McMahon*, Sam Henderson lost to Abbie Proudly, Mereana Harrod lost to Jenny Jang, Emma Gibb lost to Tiannie Hillman-Lepper, Tania-Rose Raharuhi lost to Eliza Stephens, Haley McLeod lost to Rachel Hoffman*, Amanda Te Whau lost to Lauren Monro*.
? Men: Grant Fraser lost to Luke Harley*, Hayden Pearson def Sam Heffernan (TKO), Juan Jones lost to Jordan Sherwood*, Choli Uri lost to Matt Eggleton, Iose Smale lost to Carl Gage, Thomas Wharerau lost to Ra Wiki*, Richard Stringfellow defeated Wharekahika Clarke, Jason McMillan lost to John Oxley.
*Split decision