The history of New Zealand women’s Heavyweight boxing by Benjamin Watt

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.