"The coaches asked me what I was doing for the summer," Tameifuna, 22, said yesterday. "I wasn't up to anything and told them that - and because Liam was going to be fighting and because Hika had done it before and they had been pleased with the results on their training and their playing season, they told me I could continue the trend.
"It was Andrew Strawbridge's idea but it was all up in the air for a while until Liam's agent got hold of me and put me on the spot about whether I wanted to do it."
Strawbridge is a 47-year-old assistant coach with the Chiefs, a former Waikato fullback of pace and guile who played well over 100 matches for the province, scoring 53 tries.
Since deciding to fight, Tameifuna has been working hard. He is in the midst of pre-season training with the Chiefs and his training days go like this: Chiefs morning training; Chiefs afternoon training (he does a half-session) and then boxing at the Ringside gym in Hamilton after three to four hours' rest.
That was where he broke the jaw of a sparring partner - which suggests the 115kg Thaiday, himself no Melting Moment, can expect to hear a few chimes if Big Ben connects. But Tameifuna doesn't want to say how he did the damage.
He's been doing well, Tameifuna says of his training, even if he modestly claims no great boxing talent or knowledge.
"It's been great; I am enjoying it. It's been good for me, though it's a different kind of fitness - much more explosive, more movement. I have shed a few kilos."
Oh, how many?
Tameifuna goes coy again. His weight is a subject of much comment. His fitness and ability to complete the many and varied tasks of a modern front row forward appear to be the only thing holding him back from the All Black squad that he was tentatively introduced to as a training partner a season or two ago.
All Black coach Steve Hansen has said he needs to get past the level where he has to be subbed off in the second half or used only as an impact player from the bench.
Tameifuna says his playing weight is generally between 137kg-139kg, though a publicity document for Fight For Life had him as 148kg and described him as the "biggest man mountain of flesh in professional Australasian sport".
"I guess you'll have to wait until Friday when I weigh in," grins Tameifuna when pressed about his effect on the scales. "Hopefully I will come in under my playing weight."
He is hoping Fight For Life will give him a boost into the next Super Rugby campaign after a comparatively quiet time of it last season - when he appeared to recede from the position of 'almost All Black'.
He doesn't know much about Thaiday as a boxer: "No, not a lot except that he's an aggressive bugger and he'll be coming off a big high after the win over the Kiwis."
Asked if he'd been encouraged to exact revenge for New Zealand, Tameifuna laughs: "I have a few mates on the team and I've had a few helpful messages telling me what to do."
In rugby, there have been some noises about turning Tameifuna into a hooker, given the All Blacks' short stocks there. Tameifuna doesn't mind the idea.
"Yes, I am really enjoying my footy and I know hooker is a bit open. If they wanted me to shift into hooker as a second position, I'd definitely look at doing it."
