Cairo George has come full circle: From title-winning fighter to trainer and manager to a stable of successful boxers. Photos / Photosport; CSN.Watch
Retired boxer Cairo George (Tainui) has come full circle, from New Zealand champion to coach and manager to a stable of successful boxers.
He started boxing as a hobby as a young boy, but it quickly turned into something that is now the centre of George’s life.
“My father used to do boxing and kickboxing, then my older brother ... [followed suit], so for me, [boxing] was just something that was always around.”
George rose through the amateur ranks, though in his late teens, he took a break.
“I was ... going down a bad pathway, ... fighting at local parties and [things like that].”
Then, at the age of 19, while riding his Harley Davidson on the backroads of Orini, near Huntly, he had an accident.
“There was a pike spill from a truck ... which caused me to lose control of the bike.”
He suffered a fractured lower spine and a broken leg.
“Doctors told me I would never walk again.”
For George, it was the wake-up call he needed to get his life back on track.
He found his way back to boxing and set his eyes on turning pro and becoming a New Zealand champion.
Going to the Olympics didn’t interest him.
“The pro guys I looked up to while I was boxing and seeing the bright lights they were under made me hungry for it.
“Amateur boxing never really gave me that excitement.”
George made his professional boxing debut against Saili Tofilau in Hamilton in 2012, winning by unanimous decision.
Less than a year later, George reached his championship goal, winning the New Zealand National (NZNBF version) Welterweight title against Joshua Maheno.
Though one of his most memorable fights was against Ricky Campbell on the undercard of David Tua’s retirement fight against Alexander Ustinov in Hamilton.
“David Tua was my childhood hero ... [but] the opportunity to be part of this massive ... event ... only came six days before the event.
“I was not in training and nowhere fight weight or fight fitness, but I was never going to turn this opportunity down.”
While George admitted it wasn’t healthy, he said he did get down to fight weight by hardly eating or drinking and spending a lot of time in the sauna.
George won the fight by unanimous decision.
Whenever he stepped into the ring, he also turned heads with his hairstyle: George often dyed it in Waikato colours to showcase his home and underlined his alias “the Waikato Warrior”.
The dyed hair became his trademark.
“I always knew as a professional boxer it’s about marketing and being different, so ... [dyeing] the hair different colours for fights was a part of [that].”
In 2014, he won his second New Zealand title, this time in the super welterweight division.
George’s favourite fight was against Australian Daniel Ford in 2016.
“I broke my hand in round 2 and finished him [in] round 8 by dropping him twice.
“This fight was a test of character ... [It was] a reassurance that I had that dog in me.
“[My] hand was badly broken but [I had] the ability to push myself past that and still get that late stoppage win.”
That broken hand was just one of the many injuries George has received throughout his career.
“The injuries ... were something I had to just deal with.
“I was going into most fights with injuries or something going on ... all fighters do.
“Fighting ain’t for the faint-hearted.”
George suffered his first loss against Stevie Ongen Ferdinandus in Singapore.
Despite the loss, Asia-based promotion company Ringstar asked George to sign with them.
This led to a six-fight winning streak, including the Pacific (Pro Box NZ version) Super Lightweight title in May 2019.
George ended his career in Australia, where he fought retiring Australian boxer Jamie Hilt for the WBU World Super Lightweight title.
Hilt won by technical unanimous decision.
At the time, George didn’t know it was going to be his final fight.
Covid-19 closed down the world, and fighting, especially internationally, became difficult.
“I trained for nearly two years without knowing if I will get to travel to fight again and it became disheartening.”
He naturally fell into coaching, something he was already doing while being an active fighter.
“My passion started to shift.”
Though leaving professional boxing behind wasn’t easy.
“It was a bittersweet feeling [of] realising I was losing that competitive feeling to fight.
“It was a struggle ... going through this.
“I was blessed to have David [Nyika] to help him prepare for major tournaments at this time, and this made the transition exciting and much easier to deal with.
“It felt like this is exactly what I should be doing now.”
George finished his professional boxing career with a record of 18 wins and 2 losses, with 10 wins by knockout.
He said he would only come out of retirement to fight American boxer and social media personality Jake Paul, though George’s main focus was now on being a trainer and manager, he said.
He has led many people to success, including Nyika, Cayden Hope, Aminio Manu, Sheilla Yama and Francis Waitai.
“I think a big part of success as a coach is having a genuine care for my fighters.
“These are all people I consider friends ... So when they have their lows, I have the lows too, and when they have their highs, I have the highs too.”
Aside from boxing, running Hamilton’s Hit Fitness HQ and coaching and managing his stable of fighters, another big part of George’s life is his family: He is a proud husband and father of four.
They keep him busy, though whenever he gets a spare minute, he is out and about on his Harley.
“[The accident] has never really held me back.
“I’ve run half marathons and broken records for the fastest time in Tainui games history for running up the Hakarimata track.
“I’ve done a lot of things that doctors would be surprised by.”
Benjamin Watt is a retired boxing judge and New Zealand boxing writer with a decade of experience. Watt has also been BoxRec’s New Zealand record-keeper since 2014.