Alrie Meleisea was born and raised in Auckland, New Zealand but is very proud of her Samoan heritage. At a very young age, she got her traditional Samoan tattoos on her legs called Malu.

Her first known fight history was in MMA, where she fought in the women fighting promotion “Princesses of Pain” in 2015. In her MMA debut, she defeated her opponent in 18 seconds in the first round. The following year, she returned to the MMA ring on the next Princesses of Pain event. This time she won her MMA fight by Unanimous Decision.

Meleisea didn’t expect to make a transition in boxing, but she got a last-minute offer to fight undefeated Tongan boxer Nailini Helu. Helu was originally fighting for a New Zealand title shot, but her opponent pulled out due to pregnancy. Meleisea took the fight on less than two weeks' notice. 2016 was an important year for Women's Heavyweight boxing in New Zealand as this began the start of the biggest growth in the division. Meleisea won the fight by Split Decision, which was a massive upset at the time, sending waves in New Zealand women's boxing.

After the fight, Meleisea received another last-minute offer to fight another Samoan Heavyweight New Zealand boxer, Kirsty Lupeamanu. Meleisea took this fight now with only a week's notice against Lupeamanu, who just came off a big win. Meleisea was already at at disadvantage going up against a more experienced boxer and fighting in Lupeamanu's hometown. Meleisea continued her winning streak, winning the fight by Unanimous Decision. Unfortunately, that was Lupeamanu's last fight as a boxer, as a year later, Lupeamanu was diagnosed with a benign brain tumour. Lupeamanu will live a fully normal life but can never box again.

In 2017, Meleisea will have a rematch against Nailini Helu for the first-ever New Zealand national Heavyweight title and UBF Asia Pacific Heavyweight title. The New Zealand title was originally scheduled between Helu and Ange Davis in a rematch from their first drawn title fight. However, Davis was forced to retire due to a torn ACL injury that required surgery. The fight between Helu and Meleisea was extremely close, with Meleisea winning the fight by Split Decision. The fight result received mixed reactions from the crown. Even the referee had to check the scorecards himself as he couldn't believe it.

Later in the year, Meleisea would begin a new rivalry with a kickboxer who turned professional boxer, Sarah Long. Long was on the up in her career as she just came off a two-fight winning streak. Meleisea, who had just freshly won her New Zealand title, defended the title against Long. This is the first time both boxers fought in an eight-round fight. Meleisea won the fight by Unanimous Decision but again was a very close fight. A Youtube channel called “Gladrap Channel” filmed the fight, but the commentators leaned toward Meleisea.

Sarah Long’s team applied to become the mandatory challenger for the New Zealand title as they felt it was a close enough fight to warrant a rematch. Commissioning body NZPBA agreed and granted Long mandatory status. The rematch between Meleisea and Long was scheduled for June 2018; however, Meleisea pulled out of the fight and vacated her New Zealand title due to her mother's death.

The rivalry will continue in September 2019, when Meleisea would take on Sarah Long on short notice. Initially, Long was scheduled to fight in a kickboxing fight; however, her opponent pulled out due to injury. The fight was controversial as all three judges on the night had completely different scorecards. The fight ended in a close draw. Meleisea would have a quick turnaround as she would make her TV debut when she fought on a Shane Cameron promotion televised card against Ashley Campbell. This was two months after the draw against Sarah Long. Meleisea showing her experience, won the fight against Campbell by Unanimous Decision.

The following year, Meleisea was scheduled to take on an amateur boxer that went to the commonwealth games, Magan Maka. The fight was predicted to be exciting, and some believe it would have been close. However, due to the covid 19 pandemic, the event was cancelled. Magan Maka never made her pro debut.

In February 2021, Meleisea was scheduled to fight Lani Daniels on the Joseph Parker vs Junior Fa undercard. However, multiple issues kept coming up, and promoter David Higgins eventually pulled the fight from the card due to poor boxing politics.

Meleisea would return to the fight after an 18-month hiatus. Meleisea took on Professional Rugby Player and Professional Rugby League Player Sequita Hemingway. At this point, Meleisea was ranked highly in both WBA and WBC. It was a close fight, but Hemingway won the fight by Majority Decision. This is considered the biggest upset in New Zealand women's boxing history.

Seventeen months later, Meleisea and Hemingway would continue their rivalry to have a rematch, but this time for the Pro Box New Zealand Heavyweight title. This fight had a lot at stake, with the winner taking a big step towards a world title fight. Meleisea won the fight clearly, winning the fight by unanimous decision, making her a two time New Zealand Heavyweight champion.

Written by:  Benjamin Watt

 

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