Battle of the New Zealand Boxing Commissioning Bodies Part 1
Boxing in New Zealand is controlled by a number of sanctioning bodies and, to the average punter, it may not always be clear how these organisations fit into the picture. With a variety of similar names and titles, the back story to the incestuous world of pro boxing in New Zealand is a complex one. Full disclosure, I work as an official contracted now to Pro Box and previously to the NZPBA, but I’ve tried to keep this to just the facts. This is the first part of a two part series where I will be giving you the inside look to how boxing is administered in New Zealand.
In the early 1900s, boxing in New Zealand had only one sanctioning body called the New Zealand Boxing Association. For decades this simple administrative structure oversaw all boxing in the country, but that all changed in 1966 when the South Pacific Boxing Association started up, beginning the war for who was the superior boxing organisation.
The 80’s brought with them some big changes, with the South Pacific Boxing association changing their name to the New Zealand Professional Boxing Association (NZPBA), a new sanctioning body was added called New Zealand National Boxing Federation and the Boxing and Wrestling Act of 1981 was introduced forcing all boxing bodies to be registered with internal affairs and have police permits for each boxing and wrestling event. In the 90’s we saw the addition of the New Zealand Boxing Council, however, it was short lived when that organisation ended in the 2000s and created the WBA Oceania body while the New Zealand Boxing Association also shut up shop.
Now fast forward to today, under the Boxing and Wrestling Act there are 32 bodies registered with internal affairs. Seven are Wrestling only bodies who don’t relate to this article. Twenty-one of them are amateur bodies who sit under the umbrella of Boxing New Zealand. Which leaves the current four boxing bodies, NZPBA, NZNBF, Pro Box New Zealand (est. 2012) and PBCNZ (est. 2016).
So who really controls boxing in New Zealand you might ask? We can look at statistics that are available on Boxrec.com between 2015 – 2019. Quick note we only looked at events that have at least one professional boxing bout on them. We also only took into consideration New Zealand National titles, not New Zealand regional titles or Pacific international titles.
Between 2015 and 2018, NZPBA officiated the most shows nationwide. In 2015, NZNBF was the leading body in Auckland, but NZPBA was the leading body for the rest of the country. NZPBA did more New Zealand titles in 2015 as well. NZPBA were also officiating Duco Boxing shows at this time. NZNBF was the leading body for Taranaki being the organisation of choice for Sam Rapira’s events.
In 2016, NZNBF took over Duco’s shows (rumoured to be a response to the. President Lane Revill’s behaviour) however NZPBA managed to increase their shows nationwide, with the most shows of the year, except for Taranaki which still favoured NZNBF. NZPBA again did more New Zealand title fights.
In 2017 things started to change. NZPBA still leading with the most pro events, but PBCNZ and Pro Box NZ started getting more active. NZPBA had the most titles but Pro Box NZ became dominant in Waikato and Taranaki, with NZNBF only holding onto Manawatu. Its also good to note, Duco stopped doing regular shows and it was a toss up between Shane Cameron and Andrew Higgins for who had the better-televised show.
2018 brought the biggest change. The war between NZPBA and NZNBF was over, and now became the war between NZPBA and PBCNZ. NZPBA was leading nationwide, having control over the majority of the country, but PBCNZ took over Auckland. Pro Box NZ started becoming more active as well as they had the most New Zealand title fights that year. Shane Cameron became the leading tv boxing promoter for New Zealand while Andrew Higgins ended his promoting career.
2019 was very interesting. PBCNZ took over with the most shows and most title fights, with the remainder being split between NZPBA and Pro Box NZ. NZNBF administered only a handful of shows this year. PBCNZ did the most shows in Auckland, enough shows that they likely didn’t need promoters from the rest of the country. Pro Box NZ did more shows in Auckland than the NZPBA and had control of the Waikato. NZPBA had control of the South Island, ensuring they continued to have a solid presence.
Currently, the largest boxing body in New Zealand by number of shows administered is the PBCNZ. Pro Box NZ has the most active New Zealand titles, especially in 2018 and 2019. They also have the most active regional titles and Pacific (international) titles. Most of the NZPBA and NZNBF national champions were crowned before 2017. All of PBCNZ champions were crowned in 2018, and Pro Box NZ (right now) has champions crowned in 2018, 2019 and recently in 2020.
So now you know all the players and how they fit into the game, but it’s the people on the ground who often make boxing what it is. In the next part of this series I’ll talk about the officials inside these organisations and what part they play in keeping boxing live and active in this country.