Boxing: East-West take all in fight night

Rotorua's Karin Isaacson (right) lands a punch during her bout against Jade Snare on Saturday night. Photo / Stephen Parker

The Station of Origin fight night in Rotorua will be talked about for a long time to come, according to one of the Rotorua policemen involved in the event.

Police stations from across the Bay of Plenty took part in the fight night which was held at Rotorua Girls' High School on Saturday.

The red team, which included policemen and policewomen from the Central Bay, lost to the blue team representing the Western and Eastern Bay of Plenty.

The red team won five fights to the blue team's seven.

The fight card included 13 bouts, with the final bout being the professional debut of young Rotorua boxer Tyrone Warren, 20.

Warren won the feature fight by decision against a much older and more experienced fighter despite injuring his hand in the last round.

A big crowd turned out to watch the event.

"It was an awesome night. It will be a night everyone will talk about for a long time," Rotorua police Senior Constable Sililo Levae said.

Levae was a big factor in starting the event in Rotorua this year and, while he did not fight, he said it was a thrilling night.

"There were some results that were very close and the women's fights were quite spectacular," he said. "And the professional fight was a great spectacle in itself."

RotoVegas Boxing Gym head coach Aaron Warren, who trained the red team and helped organise the event, said everyone who got in the ring did themselves proud. "Win or lose they were stoked that they had actually done it," he said. "At the end of the day they are all winners for going up the stairs and stepping through the ropes."

He said none of the Central Bay fighters, from the Rotorua and Tokoroa police stations, had fought in a corporate fight night before. Quite a few from the blue team had fought before, so it was a good effort from the red team to pick up five wins. He said there were two knockouts but both fighters had pulled up okay on Sunday.

Money raised on the night will help children to train at the RotoVegas Boxing Gym.