Boxing: Barber to fight if new opponent found

Whetu Barber

Whetu Barber will still fight in the Hawke's Bay Kings of Club Rugby charity boxing night if he can be matched.

"My stance on Whetu boxing hasn't changed," one of the organisers of the March 7 event at Lindisfarne College, Hawke's Bay Magpies halfback Chris Eaton, said yesterday.

He was commenting on the Napier Pirate Rugby and Sports Club's decision not to allow their fighters to box against Barber in the wake of the life ban he received from the Waikato Rugby Union last year after punching referee Mark Ray while playing for Otorohanga against Morrinsville in a Waikato premier B fixture on Good Friday.

"One of our sponsors, who doesn't want to be named, didn't want to sponsor our fighters if Whetu was involved in the event and we must support that sponsor," Pirate club chairman Kerry Lewis said. "We're happy for both of our fighters to fight but we don't want either of them fighting Whetu, who isn't a Hawke's Bay club rugby player and hasn't been for some time," Lewis added.

Pirate loosie Lynard Hall was scheduled to fight Barber, who was a late addition to the 14-bout card, after his former MAC teammate Everard Reid withdrew with a shoulder injury. Former Magpies prop Barber last played club rugby in the Bay in 2011.

"It's not Lynard's fault his club doesn't want him fighting Whetu. Basically, if we can match Lynard first he will still fight on the night and if we can match Whetu first he will fight ... we won't be adding an extra bout to the card," Eaton said.

Eaton and his brother, Kim, are organising the event as a fundraiser for the Jarrod Cunningham Trust and Kim's Auckland-based 9-year-old niece, Lili Reynolds, who was diagnosed with a brain tumour when she was aged 5.

Last year Lili was chosen by the Make a Wish Foundation and Team New Zealand to present the Duchess of Cambridge with a posy of flowers before she went sailing in Auckland.

MAC club spokesman and U-Turn Trust trustee Henare O'Keefe said the trust will sponsor Barber if he is matched.

"Our trust supports people like Whetu who have been to dark places. It's important they know there are people keen to help them make better choices which not only benefits them but also benefits their children," O'Keefe said.