Pundit Winston Peters makes his picks

Winston Peters tips Monty Betham (left) to come off second best to Shane Cameron in their bout at the Fight For Life charity fundraiser on Saturday night at the Trusts Stadium in Henderson. Photo / Brett Phibbs

He's no stranger to climbing off the canvas, so Winston Peters' role as an official Fight For Life pundit should come as no real surprise.

Having filled in time between parliamentary terms as a surprisingly insightful sports columnist for a monthly magazine, Mr Peters has some pedigree as a sports pundit.

At yesterday's press conference for the league-versus-rugby boxing charity event, Mr Peters picked Jerry Seuseu to beat Slade McFarland; Wairangi Kopu to beat Matua Parkinson; Hayley Holt to beat Paige Hareb; Carlos Spencer to beat Awen Guttenbeil; and Issac Luke to beat Christian Cullen.

In the main event, he tipped Shane Cameron to defeat Monty Betham.

He also drew a couple of laughs by suggesting the $20,000 knockout bonus paraded by promoter Dean Lonergan might have been a donation to the New Zealand First Party, while rebuffing a question about taking on Prime Minister John Key in the ring with: "You don't want to get into a position where you are taking candy off a baby."

An avid boxing fan who has attended fights in Las Vegas - including a blockbuster world title fight between Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather - Mr Peters admitted he was attracted to boxing's darker side.

"The boxing crowd has one attractive feature in that they are slightly risky," he said. "They are slightly dangerous. That means nothing other than they have got a lot of character and there are a lot of characters in it."

A rugby player in his youth who never boxed, the 66-year-old said there was no chance of him following in former political colleague Michael Laws' footsteps and engaging in a charity bout. Mr Laws is to fight Maori activist Ken Mair in a charity fundraiser for Christchurch.

"There would have been a time but not now," Mr Peters said. "And I don't think Laws is going to last one round."

He might not have plans to lace up the gloves, but his fondness for verbal sparring clearly remains. The media received a ticking off for its blackout of NZ First's election campaign.

"We did the spadework right around the country, where others would never go, the small towns and small places," he said.

"We knew in the closing weeks as people focused on the fact there was an election tomorrow, all that work would come together. We thought we'd get home by more but we were, as you know, subject to a pretty big media blackout for weeks in that campaign. We finally bust through the ceiling in the closing 10 days."

Mr Peters was also in vintage form when asked what Kiwis could expect from his party in Parliament.

"When others are being quiet, we are prepared to take on what New Zealanders should know and make sure that they get the information out there.

"That might make some of the supporters of other parties angry but what that really means is that they don't want debate, they don't want clarity and they don't want explanation. Too bad."