(JAN 8) New Zealand has
accomplished a lot in the sport of boxing, especially
considering being a small country. One division in particular
that has had a lot of success is the Heavyweight division for
women’s boxing. Here is a brief history of the division in New
Zealand.
Disclaimer: We will be looking at the division with the weight
of 76.2 and above (168+ Ibs or 12+ st). This will be looking at
the professional boxing history, not amateur boxing history.
Introducing Women Heavyweight boxing 2002 – 2012
The first Female heavyweight fight to happen in New Zealand in
the professional division was between Kellie Doull and Evelyn
Sua on the 29th of August 2002. The fight was only 3 x 2-minute
rounds. However, Kellie Doull only needed two rounds to win the
fight, winning by TKO. That was Doull’s only fight. After that,
the division was mostly ruled by Ali Dutt.
Ali Dutt participated in the second fight in New Zealand
Heavyweight women’s boxing history when she also stopped Evelyn
Sua in the first round on 19th December 2002. Dutt will have two
more victories in her career against debutants, Bobbie August in
2004 and Mariam Graham in 2007. However she will also have three
losses in her career, all against Lisa Marie Vizaniari in 2003,
2004 and 2012 with them all being title fights. The first two
fights were for the South Pacific Women’s Heavyweight Title and
the last fight was for a minor world title, the World Boxing
Foundation World Women’s Heavyweight Title. Dutt retired after
her last fight in 2012.
Beginning of a new era of Heavyweight Women’s Boxing 2016
The division will start becoming a lot more popular in 2016 when
Tongan-born Nailini Helu made her debut against Kirsty Lupeamanu
on the 16th of April 2016. It was around this time, between 2016
and 2018 that New Zealand had more heavyweight female boxers
than any other country in the world, and at one point more than
any other country combined.
On the 24th of September 2016, the first New Zealand National (NZPBA
version) & UBF Asia Pacific Heavyweight titles fight was held
for women boxing between Nailini Helu and Ange Davis. However,
the fight was full of controversy. The fight was originally
announced as a split-decision win for Nailini Helu. The Ange
Davis team challenged the decision of the fight which the
sanctioning body accepted, launching an investigation. The
investigation found that one of the judges had created an error
on their scorecards and their scores were meant to end in a
draw. As a result of the fight, the decision was changed to a
Split Decision Draw and the Judge was never allowed to judge a
professional fight again.
New Zealand Heavyweight Champions and rivalries 2016 – 2017
A rematch was ordered between the two boxers, however, Ange
Davis received a major injury, forcing her to retire from
boxing. Helu was scheduled to take on Cheyenne Whaanga for a New
Zealand Heavyweight title in October 2016, however, Whaanga
pulled out of the fight two weeks before the fight. Helu would
take on MMA fighter Alrie Meleisea who had never fought in
boxing before. This was the moment heavyweight boxing changed
again.
Meleisea would win against Nailini Helu by Split Decision on
28th October 2016, which at the time was considered the biggest
upset in New Zealand women boxing history at the time. Meleisea
would take another fight on short notice two weeks later when
she won against Kirsty Lupeamanu by unanimous decision.
On the 10th of March 2017, Alrie Meleisea had a rematch against
Nailini Helu for the New Zealand National (NZPBA version) & UBF
Asia Pacific Heavyweight titles. This was a close fight that
ended with Meleisea winning by Split Decision becoming the first
female to hold a New Zealand Heavyweight title. After the fight
in June 2017, Meleisea became the first ever New Zealand
heavyweight female to be ranked in one of the major
world-sanctioning bodies, ranked 6th in the WBA.
Meleisea would defend her New Zealand title in November 2017
when she began her rivalry against Sarah Long. The fight again
was close with Meleisea winning by Split Decision. We will pause
this rivalry for now as two important boxers also made their
debut in 2017.
Geovana Peres vs Lani Daniels 2017 – 2018
Geovana Peres and Lani Daniels both made their debut in 2017,
both in different ways. Peres made her debut against Sarah Long
on the undercard of the Alrie Meleisea vs Nailini Helu fight.
Sarah Long won the fight by Unanimous Decision. This was the
only fight that Geovana Peres lost in her boxing career. Lani
Daniels made her debut In September 2017 against Trish Vaka,
winning the fight by unanimous decision.
In Geovana Peres’s second fight of her career, she took on
Nailini Helu for the New Zealand National (NZNBF version) Light
Heavyweight title in April 2017. Peres won the fight, becoming
the first LGBT person to win a New Zealand national professional
boxing title in New Zealand. In October 2017, Peres would win
her second boxing title, winning the PBCNZ version of the New
Zealand National Light Heavyweight title, becoming the second
person ever to win multiple New Zealand titles, but the first
person to win Multiple New Zealand titles from two different
commissioning bodies.
Lani Daniels won her New Zealand National (NZPBA version)
Light Heavyweight title in November 2017.
In 2018, the rivalry between Geovana Peres and Lani Daniels
began when they both met in the ring for the first time in
March. This fight was Geovana Peres’s first defence of her PBCNZ
New Zealand title. This was also the first time Lani Daniels
began training with John Conway. Peres won the fight by Split
Decision win, however, the fight had slight controversy. In the
ninth round of the fight, Peres slipped, however, Daniels’s
corner claims it should have been recognised as a knockdown.
However, if the knockdown had been recognised, it would not have
changed the result of the fight.
After the fight, Lani Daniels became more active when she
successfully defend her NZPBA New Zealand title against Nailini
Helu in July 2018. In September 2018, Daniels would win her
second New Zealand title, winning the Pro Box NZ version of the
New Zealand National Super Middleweight title, becoming the
third person to win a second female New Zealand title but the
first female to win two New Zealand titles from two
commissioning bodies in two weight divisions. We will pause from
this rivalry between Geovana Peres and Lani Daniels and go back
to Alrie Meleisea vs Sarah Long.
Sarah Long finally wins title, Ashley Campbell vs Diane
Beazley 2018 – 2019
In June 2018, a rematch was booked between Alrie Meleisea and
Sarah Long for Meleisea’s New Zealand title defence. However,
due to the death of Meleisea’s mother two weeks before her
fight, Meleisea decided to pull out of the fight and take a long
hiatus from boxing. Sarah Long instead took on Ashley Campbell
for the vacant New Zealand Heavyweight (NZPBA version) title.
Sarah Long won the fight by Unanimous Decision.
After the fight, Ashley Campbell started a rivalry with Diane
Beazley where both fighters fought each other twice within a
month apart from each fight. Beazley once making her debut,
became the first New Zealand-born LGBT boxer to fight as a
professional boxer. Campbell won both fights.
New Zealand vs. New Zealand World title fight 2019
Geovana Peres only had one fight in 2018 where she defeated
Trish Vaka in December winning by Unanimous decision. After the
fight, negotiations began to continue the rivalry between
Geovana Peres and Lani Daniels, but this time both boxers held
two New Zealand titles and a World title.
The fight happened in March 2019 for the WBO World Light
Heavyweight title at the Sky City Convention Center with the
fight being televised on Sky Sports New Zealand. Peres won the
fight, becoming the first LGBT person to represent New Zealand
to have won a major World boxing title. Peres would successfully
defend her title in October 2019 when she defeated Canadian
Claire Hafner. Peres would also win a Lineal title, winning the
“Lineal Championship” Heavyweight title. She would also receive
the number 1 position on Boxrec.com.
In January 2021, Peres would announce her retirement from boxing
and begin her kickboxing career.
Return of Alrie Meleisea 2019 – 2021
In September 2019, Meleisea would make her return in September
2019 when she continued her rivalry against Sarah Long.
Currently, this is the final chapter in their rivalry, however,
there is a possibility this could be revisited in the future.
Sarah Long was originally scheduled to fight in a kickboxing
fight, however, her opponent pulled out. Alrie Meleisea was
offered to fight on short notice in a boxing fight, which she
accepted. The fight ended in Split Decision Draw. The fight
would end in controversy as all three judges had completely
different scorecards. One judge scored all four rounds for Long,
and another judge scored all four rounds for Meleisea, with the
final judge scoring it as a draw.
Alrie Meleisea would return in November 2019 when she took on
Ashley Campbell. This would be both boxers’ television debut
when they fought on Sky Sports TV. Meleisea won the fight by
Unanimous Decision.
The Rivalry between Alrie Meleisea and Lani Daniels began in
2021 when the two were scheduled to fight on a Joseph Parker vs
Junior Fa undercard. Unfortunately, the fight did not end up
happening due to poor boxing politics. However, both teams still
express interest in fighting.
Sequita Hemingway vs Lani Daniels vs Alrie Meleisea 2021 – 2022
In July 2021, Meleisea took on professional Rugby Player Sequita
Hemingway on Hemingway’s professional boxing debut. Hemingway
shocked the New Zealand boxing world when she defeated Meleisea
by Majority Decision. This is considered the biggest upset in
New Zealand female boxing history. Hemingway would receive a
World ranking after the fight of 3rd in the WBA, after defeating
Meleisea who was ranked in both WBA and WBC.
Hemingway would next fight Lani Daniels in April 2022. Daniels
took a long hiatus from boxing to work on herself and her
family. However, she returned to boxing to help with her
physical health and weight loss. Daniels defeated Hemingway by a
unanimous decision. After the fight, Daniels took on Tinta Smith
on her debut for the Pro Box NZ version of the New Zealand Light
Heavyweight title. Tinta Smith at the time successfully won a
New Zealand National Amateur Championship. Daniels won the fight
by a very close unanimous decision. After the fight, Daniels
acknowledge during training camp how much she had to overcome
with her having covid, nursing an Achilles injury and grieving
the loss of her cousin. After the fight, Daniels receives a
ranking of 2nd in the WBA, 1st in the WBC and 1st on Boxrec. She
also received 4th on ESPN and 3rd with Lineal Championship
websites.
Meleisea would return to the ring in December 2022 when she took
on Sequita Hemingway in a rematch, but this time for a Pro Box
NZ New Zealand Heavyweight title. Meleisea won the fight by
Unanimous Decision, avenging her loss.
Alrie Meleisea vs Lani Daniels World title?
Today the big fight we are looking for is Lani Daniels vs Alrie
Meleisea for a world title. This we can confirm has begun
negotiations between the two parties.
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