(MAY 27) Lani Daniels has
won the first-ever IBF World Heavyweight title after dominating
her opponent Alrie Meleisea, in a history-making fight.
Everything was set up perfectly
for the world title fight. Anyone who attended the event would
be proud to be a Maori. After Alrie Meleisea entered the ring, a
Karanga happened to begin Daniels's entrance, and as she made
her way to the ring, a haka broke out. After both fighters
entered the ring, Mika Haka performed the New Zealand National
anthem and the E te rangatahi e ngunguru nei haka.
In an interview with Waatea News, Benjamin Watt predicted that
Lani Daniels would win the first three rounds; after that,
anything could happen. That is exactly what happens with an
amazing fight. Everyone got their money's worth in the main
event.
In the first four rounds of the fight, both boxers locked horns
as they fought in the pocket of each other. Maybe one of those
rounds was close, but Lani Daniels consistently landed accurate,
cleaner shots. Daniels started feeling her rhythm as she moved
and picked her shots from the fifth round onwards. But each shot
was effective. There were moments in the sixth and seventh
rounds when it felt like Alrie Meleisea would go down, but she
showed true heart and stayed on her feet.
The fight started to get bloodied with Alrie Meleisea dripping
blood out of her nose and a small cut on her left eyebrow, but
not a serious cut. At the beginning of the fight, Alrie
Meleisea's clothes were white, at the end, it was pink from her
blood.
Daniels felt confident in the last three rounds of the fight,
where Daniels almost taunted her opponent a little or distracted
with her other arm. There were moments when Daniels would raise
her arms. In the last round, spirits were high for both boxers.
Both had a smile on their faces. Even though Daniels won the
fight, Meleisea was happy to be in the moment. At the end of the
fight, Daniels raised her arms again, signalling her victory.
This was considered the fight of
the year in New Zealand and possibly women's boxing worldwide.
Two judges score the fight 98 - 92 and one judge 99 - 91, with
Daniels winning the fight unanimously. This fight made history
on multiple accounts, with the first Pasifika female to fight
for a world title, the first world title contested between two
New Zealand-born boxers, the first world title contested between
Maori and Pasifika and Daniels becoming the fourth Maori World
boxing champion.
After the fight, Daniels stated this was supposed to be her last
fight. But if major sponsors backed her, big paydays came in,
and a promoter would back her, she would continue her boxing
career. Lani Daniels has stated she has been living in the gym
since January. She has not been working this entire time.
Daniels can now finally return to her home in Pipiwai.
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