(OCT 5) New Zealand Boxer
Geovana Peres defended her WBO Light Heavyweight title against
Canadian Claire Hafner, in dominating fashion.
From the beginning, Geovana
controlled the fight with her hands speed, combination and
power. Things started becoming difficult for Caire when she
received a cut in the first round above her left eye from a
punch. The cut got worse in the second round, however, it got
stable throughout the fight.
At the end of the 6th round, Singapore born Australian Referee
Phil Austin warned Claire Hafner corner that he needs to see
more from Claire or he will stop the fight. In the 7th round,
another cut opened on Claire, this time above the other eye. At
the end of the 8th round, the referee called the fight, ending
the fight by TKO. Phil Austin said to Claire that he had to
protect your head.
After the fight, Geovana said "It feels dream-like. This is for
us New Zealand… I'm proud to be a Kiwi now. This is ours and it
will stay here… The only thing that was missing was a TKO and I
have it now. I'm going to get better… I don't know what will
happen next. That's for my manager now. Back to training and set
some goals for next year."
The undercard showed some excellent New Zealand women boxing
showcasing their talent.
Lani Daniels (4 - 2 - 1) took on Tessa Tualevao (1 - 5 - 1) for
the third time of their career, the second time for the vacant
NZPBC New Zealand Middleweight title. Quick reminder Lani
Daniels won their first fight back in September 2018, The second
fight ended in a Controversy Majority Decision Draw.
The fight started off pretty close between the two boxers,
however, Tessa took control with her aggression in the middle of
the fight. It was noticed by commentary that Lani was attempted
to fight on the inside more which is unusual to her usual
fighting style on the outside. It was also noted that Lani
Daniels corner was more focused on motivating Lani in between
rounds instead of giving direction. Tessa rocked Lani a couple
of times in the middle of the fight. The fight was extremely
close by the sevenths round which Lani took control and was even
at the end of the fight.
The scoring took a while before announcing the fight but Lt Dan
Hennessey announced a Split Decision Draw. The crowd erupted in
boos and the commentary saying Tessa won the fight and that she
got robbed. Tessa said that she felt she won the fight. Lani was
happy with the draw as she felt Tessa won the first half and
Lani won the second half. Again the belt remains vacant.
The one and only male professional bout took place between
Samoan born Australian Herman Ene Purcell (15 - 8 - 0) and
Samoan born New Zealander Viliamu Motusaga (0 - 4 - 0). Herman
is also well known in New Zealand as he grew up in the North
Shore, Auckland. The fight surprising went allot better than
expected as Motusaga showed hand speed and counter-punching
skills. However, Herman took control of the entire fight showing
his experience and power punching skills. The fight went the
full 5 rounds ending in Unanimous decision win to Herman.
The international women's fight between Trish Vaka (1 - 5 - 0)
and Desley Robinson (1 - 0 - 0) was, unfortunately, a
non-exciting fight. The first round was slow as both boxers were
feeling each other out. Throughout the rest of the fight Desley
took control and outboxed Trish. The fight ended in an
unsurprising unanimous decision to Desley Robinson.
The opening Professional fight was former Kickboxing World
Champion and former WIBA World Champion Gentiane Lupi (5 - 3 -
1) taking on Navy officer Karen Te Ruki Pasene (1 - 0 - 0). The
first round was a good even round as both boxers showed they are
here to win. However, the rest of the fight Gentiane experience
and skill took control of the rest of the fight. Gentiane Lupi
won the fight by Split Decision. A little bit controversial as
Lupi won the fight clearly.
Rival Sports Promotion outdid themselves with an amazing fight
night, breaking boundaries and paving the way for a good future
for Women boxing.