Boxing: Enter the shy showman

By PETER JESSUP

Mohamed Azzaoui is a walking contradiction - a sporting split personality, say those who know him.

In the ring he is a livewire, eyes as wide as dinner plates, hand speed to confuse spectators and opponents alike, a tendency to tease other boxers by jumping around and changing stance to southpaw, or dropping his guard and sticking his neck out to invite a hit.

And often when opponents respond they find air rather than Azzaoui. He is a real talent, if a showman to rival Prince Naseem Hamed.

Outside the ring he is shy, quiet and sticks with his friends, who are few given his short time in New Zealand and his limited English.

Azzaoui, an Algerian, has an impressive record as an amateur fighter, including Middle Eastern and African titles, 201 bouts for 196 wins.

He spent two years in a military boxing academy in the late 1990s, trained and competed in Cuba and Europe, and was sent to the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

He was disqualified in the opening round of his first fight for arguing with the referee, a Frenchman.

Fate being the funny thing it is, Azzaoui has ended up in tiny Ngawha Springs in Northland. He is running a gym that has attracted about 45 prospects and former fighters from surrounding districts.

The move came about because while he was in Australia for three pro-fights he met Ngawha local Mihi Puriri, who brought him home to meet her parents.



Dad Wiremu Puriri hired the local hall as a training facility for Azzaoui. He soon had a band of followers.

About 25 train five nights a week and two of them will appear on the undercard of a pro/amateur show at Manukau City this weekend, where Azzaoui steps up from the 86kg cruiserweight division to take on Cook Islander Terry "The Titan" Tutero at heavyweight (open).

Out of the ring, Puriri said, Azzaoui was "quiet as," and not just because his English was still stilted.

"He's a pleasant guy, His demeanour outside the ring is not at all like the guy you see in it."

Azzaoui has been training under eight-times national amateur heavyweight champ and Perth Commonwealth Games gold medallist Bill Kini.

"I regard him as a real prospect," promoter Mike Edwards said.

So would many who saw him beat Vernon Downs in a unanimous points decision on the Mundine-Sullivan undercard.

He has since won the NZ cruiserweight (190lb) title with a round-three knockout of Bob Gasio at Kaikohe in February.

In the main fight at the Supersonique Club in Manukau City tomorrow, PABA middleweight champion Maselino Masoe defends his title against mandatory challenger Kwang Jin Choi, of Korea, over 12 rounds.

National lightweight champ Santos Pakau meets Rawiri Wiremu (former amateur David Baird).

The three pro-bouts are preceded by amateur match-ups.