Waikato farmer Tamati Keefe has put his hand up to go face to face with pro boxer Dave Letele, aka Brown Buttabean.
Letele, a Duco Boxing heavyweight act, has quickly developed into something of a cult hero. Weighing in at 168kg, Letele beat Lopini Vatuvei, the brother of Warriors great Manu Vatuvei, last July.
Keefe, who featured in Hamilton News last week for his free range pig farm near Raglan, is training with Nawton Boxing Club and will face Letele next month at Chaos on the Coromandel - a fight night in Thames on March 21.
Having never boxed before and describing himself as "140kg of pure Maori", Keefe saw the call out video on Facebook from Buttabean for guys willing to jumping in the ring with him.
"I thought I'd put my hand up...no one thought I'd get it. When he came back on I thought I [wasn't going to be picked] so I was shocked."