Firemen vs Police - Palmerston North 11 August 2007

by Paddy McSharry    Click here for photo gallery

Thank you Billy Meehan, Kevin Gunn, Penny (Manawatu Coordinator for Canteen) and everyone else involved in organising and sponsoring the Canteen Charity Fight Night at the Arena Manawatu in Palmerston North on Saturday 11th of August.

Well what can I say, but what a spectacular and exciting night of boxing had by all.
I don't know if Canteen has a motto, but the words "Don't give up the fight", spring to mind. For the officers of the NZ Fire Service and NZ Police certainly didn't!

These gladiators did these young cancer sufferers proud. Right from the very first bout, every fight went to the wire! Every muscle gave it's strength! Every body gave of it's power! Dean Lonergan can only but eat his heart out in comparison to his, at times, celebrity Fight for Life extravaganzas. Likewise the Sky City Dodge Fight Nights! These events don't even come close to this little fundraiser held in the Manawatu.
As far as I can ascertain, these boxers had never been in the ring before(or if they had, it was when they were kids), but what a great night of boxing. It was pugilism at it's finest, there was no scraging or scrapping, just devotion, dedication and guts.
 
Fight 1, of the evening was between Ian "The Extinguisher" Penn (NZFS) and Dave "Danger" Wilson (NZP). These warriors had the crowd on their feet right from the first bell I was too busy taking photos of the fight to look at the crowd, but I could hear them. Winner.......NZFS
 
Fight 2, was between Nick "The Rip" Pine (NZFS) and Garry "The Bruiser" Bedford (NZP). What a gutsy performance by these two men, and the crowd responded in kind. Cheering, stomping, I was thinking that the Noise Control would be turning up soon. Winner...... NZFS
 
Fight 3, was between Shane "Sugar Shane" Cunningham (NZFS) and Laurie Howell "The Lightening Glove" (NZP). Police support was slowly ground down by the noise from the firefighters, but the Sherriff lived up to his name, personality and profession with a hard fought battle. Winner........NZP
 
Fight 4, we saw Royce "The Terminator" Tatham (NZFS) and Vil "Venomous" Kalivati (NZP). What a bruising encounter this was, both these men had but one goal, the determination to WIN. But alas there could only be one to triumph. They gave their all. Winner......NZP
 
Fight 5, with "Dynamite" Darci Walker (NZFS) and Jazzy "The Brown Sugar" Willett (NZP). Who said women can't fight? Can't throw a punch? Can't have a bloody nose and still look gorgeous? These ladies were awesome and I swear the crowd rose to a higher decibel. I remember thinking, the ref (Lance Revill), doesn't want to get in between these two tigresses, they's is nasteee. Winner......NZFS
 
Fight 6, we had Tyler "Hurricane" Parker (NZFS) and Tony "The Tongan Torpedo" Mafi. What can I say, it was a chew 'im up, chomp 'im up, spit 'im out type of fight, but you couldn't differentiate between the two. It was Hard, very Hard. Winner......NZP
 
Fight 7, we saw Tony "Two Guns" Sealey (NZFS) versus Don "Dynamite" Edgcombe (NZP). So far, the evening had been hard. Each side were 3 apiece. These guys threw caution to the wind and stood toe to toe, throwing punch for punch as though defending in the trenches. But no-one crossed the thin blue line! Winner......NZP
 
Fight 8, we met Mike "The Dominator" Dombroski (NZFS) and Francisco "The Freight Train" Maaiva. The lawman had the punch of a frieght train (I could feel the shockwaves from ringside), but the fireman contained, controlled and finally (after the toughest opponent he had ever encountered) dominated his opponent. Winner......NZFS
 
Fight 9,was Keith "Mad Dog" Murphy (NZFS) and Paul "Hot Wheels" Weallens (NZP). This was a pure case of impervious force versus immovable object. One was tough, very tough. The other, hard, very hard! It came down to the line, the hardline! Winner.......NZP
 
Fight 10, Tim "Ralph" Stilborn versus Duncan "Big Dunc" Cameron. It was truly down to the wire, NZFS vs NZP scoreline was 4-5, the fireies needed something special, something tough, something hard and something fast, very fast! The copper was a monster, he had the look of a hungry man. In stepped "Ralph", a quiet, mild mannered man(or so was my impression). 1min26s into the second round he stopped "Big Dunc" in his tracks. For "Ralph was special, tough, hard and fast. He meant business and everybody knew it. Winner........NZFS
 
So we come to the end of the night (I had to drive home, mum was tiddly). I would like to take this time to thank the compeer (I will get his name to you when I've asked Paul) the referees Lance Revill and (same goes here as for compeer) the judges and of course the Mountain Warrior Shane Cameron himself who had a few words for the crowd and the Canteen Kids as well as presiding over the awards which were shared with a 5-5 draw between these Titans.
 
 
By Paddy McSharry

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