The elite heavyweight division grabbed plenty of attention, on the evening card of day one, of the 2023 Boxing New Zealand National Championships being held in Tauranga 5-8 July 2023.

Defending champion, Malcolm Mathers, from the mid North Island Te Toki a Maui Boxing Association had a solid battle with Luran Taylor-Culshaw from Canterbury Boxing Metro. The North Island boxer took control in the second half of the fight to emerge with a 4-1 points decision.

A second Boxing Canterbury Metro fighter, in Joshua Mackey, progressed to the semi-finals when he defeated last year’s heavyweight runner-up Salo Viu from Bay of Plenty. There was little between the two boxers throughout the contest with Mackey getting the decision by a paper-thin 3-2 decision.

Well experienced Canterbury boxer, Trevor Swainson, made relatively easy work of his bout with Jayden Ball from Te Toki a Maui, with the bout finishing in round two. Filimaea Filimaea (Auckland) progressed to the last four, in another close contest, with a 3-2 victory over Casta-Troy Cocker Lemalie (Shamrock).

The first session of the Boxing New Zealand opened with seven Cadets and Junior preliminary bouts, before eight first round senior eliminators.

A light heavyweight contest, between 2022 middleweight titleholder Emile Richardson (Waikato) and 2022 Youth light heavy champion Roman Viney (Shamrock), produced plenty of close-combat action. Richardson led on three of the five judge’s cards after the opening stanza, with Viney continuing to be right in the fight in the second round.

Richardson upped the ante in round three with both fighters firing off plenty of straight scoring punches. At the conclusion of three pulsating rounds, Emile Richardson’s hand and was raised in victory, by a margin of four to one judges nods.

The judges weren’t required in the second cruiserweight contest of the opening session between Keanu Naden (South Auckland) and Liam Roberts (Shamrock). The South Auckland pugilist piled on the pressure from the opening bell and saw his opponent take three eight counts in round one, before the referee waved the contest over.

Another bout to end early, was the super heavyweight bout between Amoto Mataika (Auckland) and Fynn Dangen (South Auckland). Mataika had an eight count on Dangen in round one before two further counts in the second round, resulted in the referee intervention.

Southland middleweight Jesse Hawken, made quick work of his bout against Tim Max (Auckland), with a KO in the opening round. The two other middleweight eliminators saw Neame Lavemaau defeat Harrison Hodges (Kirikiriroa) 4-1 and Josef Jacob (Canterbury) get past Tyson Peterson (Waikato) 5-0

Boxing New Zealand National Championships Results – Day One 5 July 2023

Session One – Elite Male

Middleweight                Neame Lavemaau df Harrison Hodges (Kirikiriroa) 4-1

Middleweight                Jesse Hawken (Southland) df Tim Max (Auckland) KO - R1

Middleweight                Josef Jacob (Canterbury) df Tyson Peterson (Waikato) 5-0

Light Heavyweight        Emile Richardson (Waikato) df Roman Viney (Shamrock) 4-1

Cruiserweight               Tamatoa Hunter (Waikato) df Nathan Birch (Auckland) 5-0

Cruiserweight               Keanu Naden (South Auckland) df Liam Roberts (Shamrock) RSC R1  

Super Heavyweight       Amoto Mataika (Auckland) df Fynn Dangen (South Auckland) RSC R2

Super Heavyweight       Mosese Houma (Shamrock) df John Pua (South Auckland) 5-0

Session Two – Elite Male

Light Middleweight       Ryan Nolan (Taranaki)df Rahu William Vuidreketi (Canterbury) 3-2

Heavyweight                  Malcolm Mathes (Te Toki a Maui) df Luran Taylor-Culshaw (BC Metro) 4-1

Heavyweight                 Trevor Swainson (Canterbury) df Jayden Ball (Te Toki a Maui) Abn – R2

Heavyweight                 Joshua Mackey (BC Metro) df Salo Viu (Bay of Plenty) 3-2

Heavyweight                 Filimaea Filimaea (Auckland) df Casta-Troy Cocker Lemalie (Shamrock) 3-2

Middleweight                Tahlia-Leigh Smith (Kirikiriroa) df Genah Fabian (Shamrock) WO

Featherweight               Omid Azizi (Auckland) v Austin Butler (Masterton) 5-0

Day One Results and Day Two Draws can be found

on the Boxing New Zealand Facebook Page

Article added: Thursday 06 July 2023