Daniels and Motu create New Zealand boxing history

Whangarei could have been renamed Title Town last night as Mea Motu retained her IBO super bantamweight belt and Lani Daniels created boxing history by capturing her second crown.

The two Northland female boxers lived up to expectations claiming wins on points over their opponents.

Motu’s win over Chandni Mehra never looked in doubt, but Daniels’ victory against Australia’s Desley Robinson was a split decision.

After a measured start Motu hurt Mehra for the first time in the fourth round after piling on the body shots, and never looked back as the boxer from India tired, eventually taking the points 98-91, 100-89, 99-90.

The fight before, Daniels added the IBF's light heavyweight title to the heavyweight title she claimed in May by beating Australia’s Desley Robinson in a majority decision.

It was a brutal and thrilling contest, although closer than what the large crowd expected with the three judges scoring it 95-95, 97-93, 96-99.

The first three rounds were tight, but Robinson started to get on top in the fourth round and there was not much in the way of defence from either boxer as they sought a knockout punch.

The Kiwi looked to edge the final three rounds, but Robinson continued with her all-out attacking plan.

However, neither boxer looked like they were being on the wrong end of a TKO and the fight went to the judges.

Earlier, Jerome Pampellone’s boxing stocks continued to rise as he recorded the biggest victory of his career, destroying Rogelio Medina from Mexico in the opening round to show that he’s ready for some seriously big fights on the world stage.

The British-born Kiwi put his unbeaten record on the line, with 17 wins in a row coming into this bout, but this was a significant jump in the quality of his opponent.