Boxing: Waiheke in world bid

Waiheke Island is one fight away from potentially staging a world championship boxing match.

Algerian-born New Zealand boxer Mohamed Azzaoui won his bout with Pan African cruiserweight champion Aloryi Moyoyo Mensah in Auckland on Friday night, moving him to No 5 in the World Boxing Association (WBA) world rankings and setting himself up for a bout against the Latin-American champion in Seattle in November.

Should Azzaoui win that fight, he will move to No 2 in the rankings and earn himself a title challenge against, probably, Virgil Hill of the United States. His progress has evidently caught the eye of infamous fight promoter Don King. And that is when it gets really interesting.

Azzaoui backer Bruce Plested, executive chairman of Mainfreight, is working behind the scenes to bring the fight to his Pie Melon Bay home on Waiheke Island.

"That's true," Plested told the Herald on Sunday. "We'd love to do it. We'd hire a ring, put up temporary seats, corporate seats and hopefully have people come in by helicopter. It would be a very spectacular venue and different to any American venue."

While Azzaoui's continuing climb - he won by points at the ABA's venue on Friday night - means the dream is getting ever closer to reality, Plested said you could take nothing for granted in the boxing business.

"It is only [one fight away] in theory, but in practice we have to make it happen and in boxing it can be very difficult to make things happen.

"We'll get Azzaoui into No 2 by beating the South American champion but from there it will be up to our ingenuity to make sure we get that fight fought."

The letter Plested has received from King, however, regarding Azzaoui, indicates the former Algerian is becoming noticed on the world stage.

Plested did not reveal the contents of King's letter and said he was reluctant to commit Azzaoui to any group, preparing to pave their own way into the upper echelons of the sport.

"It was a friendly letter. The boxing business is quite difficult and I don't want to get caught in anybody's particular [camp]," Plested said.

Azzaoui was delighted by his win.

"This victory proves I'm a genuine contender for the WBA world cruiserweight title," he said. "My next challenge is to win in America so I'm training hard and getting better and stronger all the time. I'm very grateful for the support of Bruce, my trainers Anthony, Warren and Rusty . . . and the people of Northland. I want to repay their faith in me by achieving my dream of becoming a New Zealand world boxing champion."

Meanwhile, WBO cruiserweight champion Johnny Nelson relinquished his title after being forced to pull out of his defence against Enzo Maccarinelli because of an injury.

Nelson, 39, had been scheduled to face the Welshman on October 14 at the MEN Arena in Manchester, but withdrew due to recurring back problems.