Ding Ding! Blood, sweat and tears were served in bucket-loads last night (Sunday 26 June) as 22 local and aspiring boxers stepped into the ring to showcase 16 weeks of gruelling training at the Mountain Scene Thriller in the Chiller Charity Boxing Night - a sellout American Express Queenstown Winter Festival event.
Cheered on by a roaring audience of 1,300 supporters, the contestants gave ‘knock out’ performances to help raise money for the Bruce Grant Youth Trust.
The night got underway with a fearsome WWF (World Wide Federation Boxing) clash between Marc ‘Marcus Kool ‘ Perry (77kg) and Matt ‘Max Damage’ Wilson (119kg) - surprisingly won by the underdog ‘Marcus Kool ‘ Perry.
Standing ovations were offered to the most intense matches – those between David 'The Destroyer' Lynott and Jeremy 'Jahfire' Wynward, and Lisa ‘Thunder’ Murphy and Clare ‘The Tempest’ Temperton.
In fight order, winners of each boxing bout were (Red corner left, Blue Corner right):
- Shotover Jet’s Brett 'The Jet' Black Vs Coronet’s Head of Maintenance Dave 'Hurricane Hedgehog' den Hertog: winner 'The Jet' Black
- Queenstown Golf Club’s Ben ‘Prime Time’ Kyllonen Vs Produce Manager Jochen ‘The Judge’ Wauters: winner ‘The Judge’ Wauters
- Mountain Scene’s Editor Ryan 'Mean@Scene' Keen and plasterer Sean 'Sledgehammer' Sutton: winner 'Mean@Scene' Keen
- Peter Alexander’s Linda 'Smiling Smasher' Coultrip Vs Hollyford Track’s Teresa 'The Hollyford Hammer' Wallace : winner 'The Hollyford Hammer' Wallace
- Apex Rental Car’s David 'The Destroyer' Lynott and musician Jeremy 'Jahfire' Wynward : winner ‘The Destroyer’ Lynott
- Spartar Security’s Nick 'Raging Bull' Parrish Vs World Bar security man John 'The Coconutty' Coles : winner 'Raging Bull' Parrish
- Mechanic Alex 'Big Red' Ritchie Vs Jack’s Point Head Chef Andy 'Let Fly' Lisseman : winner 'Big Red' Ritchie
- Feleki ‘Ko’ Uhrle Vs Boiler Room and Minus 5’s GM James ‘The Ace Man’ Ace : winner ‘Ko’ Uhrle
- Old Man Rock waitress Lisa ‘Thunder’ Murphy and vet clinic manager Clare ‘The Tempest’ Temperton: winner ‘Thunder’ Murphy
- Motelier Lee 'Light’s Out' Excell and NZOne Skydive Pilot Peter 'Parachute' Buckley : winner Lee 'Light’s Out' Excell
- Sheep farmer Kelvin ‘The Bone Crusher’ Middleton and builder come Arrowtown Rugby player Aiden 'The Assassin' Winter: winner ‘The Bone Crusher’ Middleton
Earlier in the day, sporting prowess was on display in the Queenstown Gardens during the Frisbee Golf doubles and an Ice Hockey clash between Southern Stampede and Dunedin Thunder.
At the packed out Fun Centre, the crowd howled their support for the Queenstown team (Southern Stampede) as they ground the visitors down to a final 8 – 4 score favouring the Queenstowners.
The Frisbee Golf too was exciting with a record number of entries (62 players) and an exciting sudden death playoff in front of a big gallery for the top spots. In the end, locals Russ King & Elliot Menzies prevailed over Martin Galley & Hazen Simpson (both of Wanaka).
Today, the adrenaline continued with dozens of fitness junkies taking to Queenstown’s Earnslaw Park for the Alpine Health & Fitness Zumbia Mania joined by the likes of More FM Henry Youngman, an inflatable sumo wrestler and Cookie Time’s the Cookie Monster.
The fun of festival continues tonight as New Zealand’s funniest comedians take on each other in the first of a comic trio of nights out. The Oak’s Hotels & Resorts Comedy Gala, hosted by Kiwi funnyman Bredhan Lovegrove and led by Jeremy Corbett promises a ribbing of TV3’s comedy satire show ‘7 Days’.
Looking ahead, the programme continues with outrageous and inherently Queenstown events including the Air New Zealand Holidays Mardi Gras and Street Parade party tomorrow (Tuesday 28 June) More FM Downtown Day (Wednesday 29 June) featuring dodgeball and drag racing and on-mountain activity snow conditions permitting.
For the full programme line up and individual event details check out the American Express Queenstown Winter Festival calendar online at www.winterfestival.co.nz or pick up a programme at information outlets throughout the region.
Tickets for all events can be bought from TicketDirect online at www.ticketdirect.co.nz, by phone 0800 224 224 (03 450 9110), or in person at the Queenstown Events Centre or Queenstown i-Site (corner of Shotover and Camp streets)*.
