(FEB 20) The “Census 2023 Ngā Tohu Tākaro Māori o Te Tai Tokerau” which is the Northland Maori Sports Awards will be happening on the 4th of March in New Zealand with four boxing people nominated for the awards.

Lani Daniels - Te Tohu Tākaro Toa Wahine (Open Female Sportsperson of the Year)

Lani Daniels will be nominated for two local awards this year. The first award she is nominated for is this award, Te Tohu Tākaro Toa Wahine (Open Female Sportsperson of the Year). The other award she is nominated for will be at the 2022 Conbrio Northland Sports Awards on March 22nd where she is nominated for the Fireco Sportswoman of the Year.


For the Fireco Sportswoman of the Year on March 22nd, she will be going up against Lawn Bowler Patricia Murray and Black Ferns rugby player Krystal Murray.


Lani Daniels made her in-ring return in April 2022 after 30 month's hiatus from the ring. In her first fight, she took on Rugby Player Sequita Hemingway, which Daniels won by UD. In her second fight in June 2022, she took on New Zealand National Amateur Champion Tinta Smith for the New Zealand National (Pro Box NZ version) Light Heavyweight title. Daniels won that close fight by UD winning her third New Zealand title.


After these wins, she was ranked on top across the board, putting herself in position for a World title fight. Her next fight will be on the 10th of March against Sequita Hemingway for the 100-year-old boxing title, ANBF Australasia Heavyweight title. If Daniels wins, She will face Alrie Meleisea for the IBF World heavyweight title on May 27th.

Mea Motu - Te Tohu Tākaro Toa Wahine (Open Female Sportsperson of the Year)

Mea Motu is nominated for the Te Tohu Tākaro Toa Wahine (Open Female Sportsperson of the Year). She will not only be going up against Lani Daniels for this award but also three Black Ferns rugby players who won at the Rugby World Cup in 2022, Krystal Murray, Krystal Murray and Portia Woodman. It is an award to win with these nominations, as it truly is Rugby vs Boxing.

Mea Motu had an impressive 2022 year. In February 2022, She won her third New Zealand title, breaking the 14-year record for most New Zealand Women's National titles for a single boxer which was set by Daniella Smith. She increased her record when she won her fourth New Zealand title against Baby Nansen. Motu went on to defeat two international opponents, Thanchanok Phanan winning by TKO and Usanakorn Thawilsuhannawang winning by UD.


In November 2022, she won the biggest fight of her career so far, when she fought in Dubai against Nastaran Fathi. She won the fight by SD winning the WBC Asian Boxing Council Continental Super Bantamweight title. After the fight she was put on top of the IBF rankings, putting her in position for a World title show.

Recently it was announced that Mea Motu will fight for the vacant IBO World Super Bantamweight title against Canadian boxer Tania Walters. Details on that fight will be announced within the next week.

Daniella Smith - Te Tangi a Tūkaiāia – Lifetime Achievement Award

Daniella Smith is nominated for the Te Tangi a Tūkaiāia – Lifetime Achievement Award. She will be going up against rugby player Sid Going and Rugby League Player James Larkin.


Daniella Smith has achieved a lot in the sport of boxing. First New Zealand female boxer to fight televised, the first time to win multiple New Zealand women's titles, and the first ever IBF World champion.

Even before becoming a professional boxer, she achieved a lot as an amateur including being a four-time New Zealand amateur champion, Oceania Champion and competing at the 2002 World Championships in Turkey.

She finished her boxing career with a fight record of (amateur) 34 wins 6 losses and (Professional) 13 wins 6 losses with one win coming by way of Knockout.

Later this year, she will be inducted into the 2024 International Women's Boxing Hall of Fame (IWBHF) in Las Vegas, Nevada, on October 6-7, 2023 at the Orleans Hotel & Casino.

Benjamin Watt - Te Tohu Kaiwhakahaere (Sports Administrator Award)

And finally I, Benjamin Watt is nominated for Te Tohu Kaiwhakahaere (Sports Administrator Award). The other person to be nominated for this award is Jennifer Pickering (Football).

In 2022, I have been very busy volunteering for the sport of boxing. Continuing upkeep of the Amateur and professional record for New Zealand on Boxrec, being a backstage manager for multiple events, creating 11 new Wikipedia pages, writing over 60 media articles to give New Zealand women's boxing more exposure and supervising multiple boxing events as an official.

I began my career back in 2014 as a Boxrec editor which led to making my debut as a professional boxing judge in 2015. I had my first professional boxing fight as a judge in August 2015 with Shay Brock vs Sivan Hermez. After this fight, I was recognised as the first Takatāpui Professional boxing judge in the world. I went on to do amazing things including 17 title fights as a judge, promoting two boxing events, writing over 200 boxing media articles, creating 129 Wikipedia pages, becoming an amateur boxing judge and reaching 100 professional fights as a judge in 2020.

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