(MAY 30) Alrie Meleisea will get her second
chance at a boxing world title. She will fight for the WBA World Light
Heavyweight title against Che Kenneally on July 25th in Sopo Bar, Southport,
Queensland, Australia.
Freshly announced on Instagram on FK Events and Meleisea’s gym, Red Line Combat
Academy, that the contract has been signed for WBA World Light Heavyweight
Champion Che Kenneally to defend her title against Alrie Meleisea. This will be
Kenneally's first world title defence since winning her title in July 2024.
|
 |
|
TALE OF THE TAPE |
|
Alrie Meleisea |
Name |
Che Kenneally |
| New
Zealand/Somoa |
Country |
Australia |
| 32 |
Age |
30 |
| 170cm |
Height |
183cm |
| 166cm |
Reach |
185cm |
| 91kgs |
Ave.
Fighting
Weight |
77kgs |
| 6-2-1 |
Record |
5-0-0 |
IBF World
title contender
The first-ever 2x New Zealand Heavyweight champion
|
Titles |
WBA World Light Heavyweight Champion
Two division ANBF Australasian champion |
This will be Meleisea's second attempt at the World
title after losing to Lani Daniels for the IBF World Heavyweight title in May
2023. Meleisea has not fought since, but is ready to jump into the deep end with
a world title shot.
This fight will be a lot of firsts for Meleisea, as it is the first time she has
fought outside of New Zealand, the first time she has fought in the Light
Heavyweight division in professional boxing, and the first time she has fought
an Australian opponent. On top of that, if she wins, she will become the first
female from the pasifika nations to win a world boxing title.
This is a historical fight on many levels, especially for New Zealand and the
Pasifika nations. There has only been one person from New Zealand to have won
the WBA world title, which was Maselino Masoe, who won the vacant WBA World
Middleweight title in Miami, Florida, USA in 2004 against Evans Ashira, winning
the vacant title by second-round stoppage.
Masoe was born in Western Samoa and represented American Samoa in the Olympics
before permanently living in New Zealand. This would come full circle for the
Pasifika communities if Alrie Meleisea won the WBA World Light Heavyweight
title.
Che Kenneally made her professional boxing debut in March 2023. It is safe to
say her career was heavily rushed as she won her world title in her fifth fight
of her professional boxing career, remaining undefeated.
Kenneally has not had many challenging boxers yet, as her first two fights were
against debutants. She went on to fight New Zealander Sequita Hemingway twice,
which is an opponent Kenneally and Meleisea have shared twice. After those four
fights, Kenneally fought Colombian Angie Paola Rocha for the WBA world Light
Heavyweight title, ending with Rocha retiring in the corner after round three.
WBAN / IWBHF
WBAN Instagram
WBAN Facebook
WBAN / IWBHF
WEBSITES
www.womensboxing.org
www.wbanmember.com
www.floridaboxing.com
www.iwbhf.com
WBAN's
Group Facebook
