Former All Black Liam Messam has given up on his dream of becoming New Zealand’s heavyweight boxing champion, saying “I’m brave and I’m tough but I’m not stupid”.
Messam, 39, who is undefeated after five professional fights, had designs as recently as last year on pursuing the sport to the upper echelons in this country.
However, a fight against Cantabrian Sam Watt for the New Zealand title was cancelled last year due to an injury to Watt, and Messam, after sparring against the likes of Kiki Toa Leutele, Matt Maitaka and Conrad Lam, has had a change of heart.
Another former All Black, Keven Mealamu, had similar aspirations but his road to the top hit a big bump last year when his Fight for Life bout against former Warrior and Kiwi Wairangi Koopu was called off after Mealamu was diagnosed with a heart issue during a routine health check.
“I’m almost 40 so we’ll see how it goes,” Messam told 1News. “There are some dangerous young heavyweights coming through. I sparred a few of them coming into this fight and took an absolute hiding which was good for me as a boxer.”
However, Messam will have his hands full in his next bout against former Australia and Brisbane Broncos rugby league star Justin Hodges at Thursday night’s Fight for Life event at Auckland's Eventfinda Stadium.
Messam, who played 43 Tests and retired from rugby after the 2015 World Cup, first fought in a Fight for Life event in 2011 - a memorable slugfest against Wendell Sailor, which Messam won on points. He lost a split decision against another Aussie Paul Gallen in 2013.
"I'm just boxing for myself and to fill a void after rugby," Messam added. "I'm not trying to prove anything other than to hopefully prove an inspiration to my kids that you can do something if you work for it."
In today’s press conference, attended by all the boxers on the card which will be headlined by the Mea Motu v Tania Walters fight for the IBO super bantamweight world title, Hodges, who lost to Gallen twice last year – the first time by knockout – promised an action-packed bout.
“I always train really hard,” he said. “I’ve been sparring with some good quality guys like Django [Faiga Opelu] which gives me the confidence to put a good show on.
“Liam’s a big boy, I really admired him as a rugby player, but come Thursday night we’re going to punch the s*** out of each other.”
Messam and Hodges will fight over a scheduled four two-and-a-half-minute rounds, and Messam said when asked by 1News about the realities of fighting as a professional: “It’s a lot of effort to prepare for a 10-round fight. Ten three-minute rounds ain’t no joke.”
Promoter Dean Lonergan said: “I’m expecting it to be the most exciting Fight for Life we’ve had because you’ve got a combination of really great New Zealand fighters on their way up in Mea, Andrei Mikhailovich and Jerome Pampellone and then you’ve got the celebrity guys, and, in my opinion, we’ve never had such an even balance of fights.”
Should Mikhailovich beat Edisson Saltarin of Venezuela he will probably fight Denis Radovan in Germany in June to become the mandatory challenger for the IBF world middleweight championship.
Pampellone, a light heavyweight who will fight Mose Aumatagi, is ranked eighth by the IBF and may also fight in Germany in June.
Messam, who played for the Chiefs when they won Super Rugby titles in 2012 and 2013, is set to attend his first game of the season on Saturday when his former side host the Crusaders in a mouth-watering clash.
“I think the biggest thing for me is the depth they have,” Messam said of the Chiefs.
“It was our depth that won our titles. They can roll out any 23 on the day and they’ll be fantastic. It’s good to see Damian [McKenzie] running the cutter and showing his world class ability. It’s looking hopeful for the championship.”
Fight for Life card
Professional bouts:
IBO Super Bantamweight World Title: Mea Motu (NZ 15-0-0) v Tania Walters (CAN 4-1-0)
IBF Middleweight Pan Pacific title and WBO Middleweight Global title: Andrei Mikhailovich (NZ 19-0-0) v Edisson Saltarin (VNZ, 16-0-0)
Light heavyweight fight: Jerome Pampellone (NZ,15-0-0) v Mose Auimatagi (NZ, 15-2-2)
Rugby League v Rugby Union bouts:
Justin Hodges (Aus) v Liam Messam (NZ)
Roy Asotasi (NZ) v Sam Tuitupou (NZ)
Sione Faumuina (NZ) v DJ Forbes (NZ)
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