Waikato farmer Tamati Keefe has put his hand up to go face to face with pro boxer Dave Letele, aka Brown Buttabean.
Letele, a Duco Boxing heavyweight act, has quickly developed into something of a cult hero. Weighing in at 168kg, Letele beat Lopini Vatuvei, the brother of Warriors greatManu Vatuvei, last July.
Keefe, who featured in Hamilton News last week for his free range pig farm near Raglan, is training with Nawton Boxing Club and will face Letele next month at Chaos on the Coromandel - a fight night in Thames on March 21.
Having never boxed before and describing himself as "140kg of pure Maori", Keefe saw the call out video on Facebook from Buttabean for guys willing to jumping in the ring with him.
"I thought I'd put my hand up...no one thought I'd get it. When he came back on I thought I [wasn't going to be picked] so I was shocked."
Keefe splits his time between homes in Thames and Raglan, training in Hamilton with the gym. He's aiming to get down to 130kg by fight night.
Most of Keefe's fitness work has been done on the farm and pig hunting. Now, he's in the gym most mornings and evenings to prepare for the fight.
The down-to-earth Kiwi bloke has a blended family of seven kids between him and his partner Sheryl Ngamata and he said the kids "think it's pretty cool".
But he said Sheryl took a little longer to come around to the idea.
"At the start she thought it was a joke, but now she has watched the training, she realises there is quite a bit of technique, but thinks I'm too old."
He said the training has been harder than expected but coach Winston Broadway has eased him into the training schedule.
He's focused on a win and becoming the champion of the Coromandel. "Nerves are not a thing, just focus on the goal, winning, especially on home ground."
Brown Buttabean controversially won his fight against Loni Uhila aka the "Tongan Bear" at the Fight for Life bout at Claudelands Arena late last year.
Chaos on the Coromandel features an undefeated title fight; a show down between two top welterweights - Cairo the Waikato Warrior George vs Nort the Assassin from Siam Bauchamp - along with the fight between Brown Buttabean and Tamati Keefe.
