Mea Motu (Te Rarawa) had to overcome a dislocated shoulder to claim victory in her maiden world title defence.
Motu kept her IBO world super bantamweight title with a unanimous points decision over Malawi’s Ellen Simwaka in the Wahine Toa Fight Night at Eventfinda Stadium in Auckland on Saturday night.
The 10-round encounter went the distance and Motu wasn’t guaranteed victory until the decision was announced, and her arm raised to the delight of the crowd.
Simwaka started strongly with her all-action style and there were further concerns for the belt-holder at the end of the first round when trainer Isaac Peach had to work on a right shoulder injury that was troubling Motu, who after the fight confirmed “it popped out”.
But the New Zealander battled back in an intense encounter and landed a string of powerful blows to the body of her rival to edge ahead on points.
On Friday, Peach withdrew his threat to pull her out of her the defence over concerns about the referee’s “competence”.
On Thursday, he demanded that Australian official Ignatius Missilaidus be removed from the show.
Peach had been angered by the way Missilaidus scored a fight involving another of his fighters – heavyweight Kiki Toa Leutele – in Sydney on Wednesday night, when he favoured his opponent Toese Vousiutu by a margin of 78-73.
The coach said the appointment had motivated his charge.
“Mea is pissed off, Mea’s angry. I’ve never seen her like that, so that’s exciting, Mea’s going to hurt someone!” Peach said on Friday.
“The refereeing saga, I think we got this out in the public to show what’s happening in boxing. I think it’s really important and we want to stop corruption in the sport and I’m going to put my hand up and be one of those guys who points it out.”
Lani Daniels scores TKO
In a dual triumph for the home women fighters, Lani Daniels (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Hine) extended her own IBF world heavyweight title reign with a fourth-round TKO over previously unbeaten South African foe Razel Mohammed.
Pipiwai’s Daniels was a dominant figure in the mismatched bout, taking her record to 10-2-2.
Some punishing right hands from Jerome Pampellone saw him win his IBF Intercontinental light heavyweight title fight over South Africa’s Luvuyo Sizani after a minute of the opening round.
The unbeaten New Zealander took his record to 16-0, with 10 KOs as he put Sizani on the canvas twice before the referee stopped the contest.
Ranked seventh by the IBF, ‘The Panther’ is moving closer to that organisation’s mandatory spot as he seeks a potential showdown with Russian-born Canadian wrecking ball Artur Beterbiev (19-0, 19 KOs).
The 38-year-old Beterbiev, currently in possession of the IBF belt, has blitzed his way through the light heavyweight division since making his professional debut 10 years ago, picking up the IBF, WBC and WBO straps along the way.
In a flyweight fight, Zain Adams improved his record to 3-0 with a unanimous points decision win over Enrique ‘The Miracle’ Magsalin from The Philippines after being knocked down in the opening seconds of the six-round bout.
In the opening bout of the night, the Peach-coached Amato Mataika won his third consecutive professional bout as a heavyweight with a unanimous points decision over gutsy debutant Joseph Tufuga.
AT A GLANCE
Mea Motu beat Ellen Simwaka by unanimous points decision (IBO world super bantamweight title).
Lani Daniels beat Razel Mohammed by TKO (IBF world heavyweight title).
Jerome Pampellone beat Luvuyo Sizani by TKO (IBF light heavyweight intercontinental title).
Zain Adams beat Enrique Magsalin by unanimous points decision (flyweights).
Amato Mataika beat Joseph Tufuga by unanimous points decision (heavyweights).