David Nyika
He holds his fists way too low for comfort. He swings from the hip, he is unorthodox and he seems a tad too confident. But he can slip a punch in his sleep. He moves around the ring at warp speed and pounces from the ropes like a spider who has you caught in his web. He is very, very good.
The 19-year-old Hamiltonian out-foxed and out-boxed Kennedy St Pierre, of Mauritius, in the light-heavyweight division gold-medal bout at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow earlier this year. He is the main drawcard at the event and the organisers hope his presence will help lure more spectators.
Rotorua's Tyson Sykes is expected to enter and will be a tough competitor. Queenstown's Sam Connely shapes as a strong contender in that division as well.
Bridgette Sefton
The defending New Zealand light-heavyweight champion will continue to box for Manawatu because of her gym's long-standing dispute with Otago boxing. But make no mistake, the hard-hitting 21-year-old lives and trains in Dunedin and has Otago at heart.
She is a naturally gifted athlete who has played sevens for the province and has built a good boxing record over the past two years. She recently made a successful jaunt across the Tasman and returned with an Australian Golden Gloves title.
She hits like a mule and is happy to mix it up on the inside and muscle her opponents. But she is equally comfortable trading punches from distance. Her main weapon is a ferocious right cross. Watch out for that.
Martin Mech
Mech hails from the Czech Republic and had built an impressive amateur record before moving to Queenstown in 2011. Dubbed ''The Machine'', his main weapon is his stamina and he boasts an unusual style which sees him switch to a southpaw stance and back again. That catches a lot of fighters out.
The 33-year-old middleweight has also been in the ring against some very good opponents, including Commonwealth Games quarterfinalist Bowyn Morgan, who has now turned professional. Fellow Commonwealth Games fighter Eric Finau won the New Zealand light-heavyweight title last year but has dropped a weight category to contest the middleweight division this year.
Whangarei's Josh Bowman won the title last year and is another strong contender.
