Supplied/Stuff
Former All Black Chris Masoe landed some telling shots on Aucklander Lui Te’o in his professional boxing debut.
Former WBC middleweight champion Maselino Masoe would no doubt have picked the eyes out of his brother’s performance, but Chris Masoe looked all class on his professional debut at the TSB Stadium in New Plymouth on Friday night.
The former All Black headlined a slate of corporate bouts before a crowd of 1400 and scored a deserved points decision over Aucklander Lui Te’o.
Masoe caught Te’o with some good shots, particularly in the first two rounds of the four round bout – but his fellow Samoan born opponent showed plenty of skills of his own in a fight which would have graced any event in the country.
It was the climax of another exciting card of fights, christened the Fight Before Christmas, which saw a full house of corporate tables treated to a series of bouts voiced over by the country’s premier ring announcer Dan Hennessy.
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Earlier, there were first round stoppages in the first three bouts before the judges were asked to decide on a winner.
Former Kiwi league star Wairangi Koopu, who learned his opponent had changed on the eve of the event, was beaten by Isaac Setefano in what was another classy fight, albeit on the corporate rather than professional card.
Setefano – another Samoan born fighter – was not just bigger and stronger than Koopu, he also had a skill set which suggested a step into the professional ranks is well within his grasp.
Masoe’s involvement in the last major boxing event on the New Zealand calendar came with a caveat – he wanted to see some support for Alzheimers Taranaki.
He duly stumped up with items for a charity auction which raised $14,000 for that body and for Box Office Boxing, which provides support for Taranaki youngsters. The money will be split evenly between the two.
Promoter Sam Rapira said he was delighted with the support from the Taranaki community for both the event and the auction.
Other results: Zane Coleman beat Api Hemara, first round knockout; Hanley Setu b Adam Duncan R1 KO; Shay O’Carroll b Shay Mason R1 KO; Cha Ngaia b Eva Gulliver, unanimous decision; Jason Pepper b Richard Ponder, split decision; Marc Murray b Zabie Fadae, unanimous decision; Freedom Edmunds b Sarah Mischefski, split decision; Campbell Begg b Liam Brown R1 KO.
