Whanganui boxers deliver at Boxing New Zealand Amateur Championships in Christchurch

Whanganui heavyweight Sale Oldehaver (left) knocked out two-time champion Malcolm Matthes seconds into the pair's quarter-final bout.

Boxers from Whanganui and Marton have returned from the Boxing New Zealand Amateur Championships with two bronze medals and one showreel knockout.

In his quarter-final, Whanganui heavyweight Sale Oldehaver was a heavy underdog against two-time national champion Malcolm Matthes but stopped his opponent within 30 seconds in the first round.

Head coach Eddie Tofa said Oldehaver shocked everyone with a “beauty of a shot”.

“Malcolm might have thought it would be a bit of a walk-over - he came straight out switching stances and trying to overwhelm the old guy,” he said.

“Sale slipped a shot, threw a left hook and ‘bang’. He was out before he hit the canvas.

“It was the talk of the tournament and the only knockout over the whole weekend.”

Oldehaver was up against old foe and former national super heavyweight champion Roma Crichton in the semifinal, with Crichton winning the fight in the second round via referee stoppage.

Tofa said the pair stood in the middle of the ring and exchanged for the whole fight.

“Roma is like a bulldog, he just comes at you non-stop.

“I said to Sale, ‘Oh well, you might as well fight fire with fire’. [They were] his last nationals, so he may as well go out with a bang.”

This year’s event was held at Cowles Stadium in Christchurch.

Marton’s Onyx Lye and Billy Butlin were also in the ring, with Lye securing bronze and Butlin finishing outside the medals.

Lye, who competed at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games as a light heavyweight, secured a unanimous decision over Canterbury’s George Watson in the heavyweight quarter-finals but lost to Niuean Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Duken Tutakitoa-Williams in the next round.

He was gunning for his fifth national title in his third weight class.

Tofa said Lye had returned to the ring after a year’s break following the Birmingham Games.

(From left): Whanganui and Marton boxers Onyx Lye, Billy Butlin and Sale Oldehaver at the 2024 nationals in Christchurch.

“It seems like he’s been around for years but he’s still really young and a brilliant boxer.

“Billy Meehan, the New Zealand coach, and all the New Zealand selectors were there. They will be looking to develop him further.

“Luckily, Sale and Onyx were on different sides of the draw. They could have fought in the final.”

Fifteen-year-old junior Butlin, in his first major championships, went out via decision in his first fight in the middleweight division.

“You have to have at least 10 fights to be nominated for nationals and Billy had 12,” Tofa said.

“He was up against Lyric Kawau from Taumarunui, who is very experienced, with 60-odd fights.

“Billy didn’t throw much in the first round but he woke up in the second and third. It was a good experience for him and he’ll learn a lot.”

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Tofa said the Marton club would now be part of the Whanganui Boxing Association for major championships.

The Lye family moved south from Auckland a few years ago and ran the town’s boxing gym, he said.

“They are doing great things over there and it’s really growing.

“It’s exciting to have them with us.”

He said Oldehaver, now 36, was lining up a farewell fight in Whanganui - against “his old mate” Lye at the Night of the Assassins event at Springvale Stadium next month.

“What a way to go out. Those fellas have sparred a lot; we are talking big boys going at each other.

“After that, Sale will focus on training young kids in the gym. That’s going to be awesome for him and for them.”

Mike Tweed is a multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present, his focus is local government, primarily Whanganui District Council.