New Zealand Boxing is alive and thriving with Mea Motu and Lani Daniels both defending their world titles and Jerome Pampellone claiming another first round knockout win on a big night in Auckland this evening.
Following a heated build-up which saw her trainer Isaac Peach threatening to pull the fight over the referee assigned to the bout, Motu instead tried to let her hands do the talking as the action kicked off against Ellen Simwaka in Auckland.
After Simwaka looked to establish dominance early with her height and reach advantages, Motu made her way inside to land a couple of shots on her own and the two fighters settled in for their 10-round fight at a frantic pace.
Simwaka won the early exchanges and as Motu returned to her corner, she told her team her right shoulder had "popped" but was ready to fight on. But Simwaka gave her little breathing room, throwing combo after combo and not afraid to eat responses from Motu as the intense speed continued in the second round - a better two minutes for the defending champ.
The full-throttle opening started to show for Simwaka in the third round as she noticeably slowed down in the third and Motu used it to get back into the contest with a couple of powerful shots to the body. The South African challenger ate more body shots in the fourth before looking to clinch but the 33-year-old Kiwi kept landing her blows in her best round of the night so far.
Simwaka picked up the pace once more in the fifth round but it came at the risk of Motu confidently coming forward to get back inside for more body shots and suddenly the bell rang once more and the fight was already halfway through.
It was becoming apparent this was a battle of speed against power which would be difficult to score but Motu was happy to keep dishing out body shots in the sixth, seventh and eighth rounds and it was showing with Simwaka leaning heavily and multiple blows but managing to back-pedal her way to the bell each time with quick but ineffective jabs from the outside.
With a bit of rest under her belt, Simwaka opened the ninth fiercely once more but Motu was unfazed and charging at her through the punches before a big right hook excited the local crowd.
The final round came but it was an anti-climatic finish with Simwaka bracing again and again in between big blows from Motu and in the end, it went the distance.
Before the result was even announced, trainer Peach came in to the ring and lifted up his fighter, confidently believing she had won with her superior power.
Confirmation came soon after with the judges scoring the fight 97-93, 98-92, 97-93 for a unanimous decision win which sees her retain the IBO Women's Super Bantamweight World Title.
Despite the shoulder injury, Motu said her corner kept her in it.
"[My shoulder] popped out in that first round and all I thought about was my little coach Zen - he's believed in me, he's worked with me every night and every morning and this kid fights for me and believes in me," Motu said.
"And [Isaac] said, 'c'mon Mea, suck it up, you can do it' and he knows me better than everyone and I trust him 100 per cent."
In the co-main event, Daniels defended her IBF heavyweight world title with a relentless fourth round TKO against South Africa's Razel Mohammed.
Daniels was welcomed in to Eventfinda Stadium by a fierce haka from friends and family for her walk out and it appeared to fire her up as she dominated the first of 10 scheduled two-minute rounds with her superior reach for multiple clean shots to the head.
That assault continued in the second round and three straight rights had Mohammed wobbling on her feet before she was saved by the bell, allowing her to head for her corner with Daniels staring her down.
A closer third round blew open in the final 10 seconds with another assault from 35-year-old Daniels, leaving the referee again hovering near them before the bell again intervened.
Mohammed came out swinging in the fourth round but after Daniels landed another shot to the head, she began the assault and the referee stepped in to call it.
Daniels' friends and family celebrated with another haka for their fierce warrior who was just as overjoyed, beginning her winner's speech in Te Reo Māori before continuing her acknowledgements.
"What an opportunity, I'm so blessed," she said.
"I can't wait to do it again, and again, and again."
Daniels, who moves to 9-2-2 with the win, added her first world title defence was more than she expected.
"I was freaking out before I walked in," she said.
"It's one thing to win a world title but it's definitely another thing defending it and I didn't know if I was going to walk out but it was lucky my whānau had my back because otherwise I would've stayed in the changing rooms!"
Earlier in the night, English-born Kiwi fighter Jerome Pampellone put himself potentially one fight away from a world title shot with a second-straight first round knockout.
Pampellone was up against undefeated South African Luvuyo Sizani but made light work of him to move to 17-0 and claimed the vacant IBF Intercontinental light heavyweight title.
The 27-year-old open the fight with a clean jab to the head, prompting Sizani to immediately go into a defensive stance on the ropes.
Pampellone didn't hesitate at the opportunity, landing a brutal right hook to the body that dropped the South African to his knees barely 30 seconds into the fight.
While Sizani got to his feet initially to continue, when Pampellone came right back at him with another barrage of well landed punches he retreated to the corner and again put his hands up.
The referee stepped in and Pampellone's corner jumped in to the ring to celebrate with the TKO officially recorded at 1:01 into the round.
Pampellone entered the fight ranked seventh in the IBF's light heavyweight ranks but hopes his performance will get him closer to a shot at Russian IBF champion Artur Beterbiev.
"I'm just happy and appreciative of my team," Pampellone said after the fight.
"I saw he was hurt off the first shot and I just went off it - I saw the openings and I took it."
Fight Card results
Mea Motu bt. Ellen Simwaka via UD to defend IBO Women's Super Bantamweight World Title
Lani Daniels bt. Razel Mohammed via TKO [Fourth Round] to defend IBF Women's Heavyweight World Title
Jerome Pampellone bt. Luvuyo Sizani via TKO [First Round]
Zain Adams bt. Enrique Magsalin via UD
Amato Mataika bt. Joe Tufuga via UD
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