Sold out in Whangarei

Battle Of The Clubs Northland sold out. Every seat, every table, McKay Stadium full for a Saturday night of boxing built around eight Northland clubs and finished by a main event the province had been waiting on since June.

The format is the same one that packed Mercury Baypark in February. Eight clubs, three fighters each, twelve club bouts, and $10,000 on the line for any club whose three fighters all win. Not a raffle, not a split - a club has to go three from three to take it.

Whangaruru RFC did exactly that. Three fighters, three wins, and the $10,000 went back to a rugby club at the far end of the Northland coast. That is the whole point of the event. Sponsorship at grassroots level is getting harder every season, and a club that fronts three of its own into a ring in front of a full house should not be walking away with a sausage sizzle's worth of takings.

The main event

Matt Matich beat Manu Vatuvei on points, at home, in front of his own.

Matich is Northland's. Born in Dargaville, a Northland NPC forward across most of the last decade, with Super Rugby seasons at the Chiefs in 2018 and the Blues in 2019 in between. He walked out in Whangarei as the local, and the room let him know it.

Vatuvei came in unbeaten. Four professional fights across eight years, three wins, all inside the distance - David Letele in Christchurch back in 2018, then Michael Tuaiti and Rene Ranger in 2026. Whangarei was the first time The Beast has been beaten in a boxing ring. His record now reads 3-1.

It went the distance and it went to the cards, which suited the night. Two men who have spent their careers being hit for a living in other sports, four rounds of it, and the decision going the way of the local. It was the right fight to close the card.

The eight clubs

Kerikeri Rugby Club, Horahora Rugby Club, Moerewa United Kawakawa, Hikurangi, Mid Northern Rugby Club, Whangaruru RFC, Wellsford Rugby Club and Pipiwai Rugby Club. Twenty-four club fighters, three rounds each, most of them stepping into a ring for the first time after a training camp that started months out.

Every club came with a sponsor behind it, and a room full of people who had driven in from their own patch of Northland to watch someone they know go three rounds. That is what makes the night work. It is not a boxing crowd. It is eight club crowds in one building.

Thank you

To the clubs, the fighters and their corners, the sponsors who backed each club, the crew at McKay Stadium, and everyone who bought a ticket or a table - thank you. Northland turned up in a way that makes it very easy to come back.

The next Battle Of The Clubs is at Mercury Baypark, Mount Maunganui, on Saturday 14 November 2026. Full announcement coming shortly.