Newspaper beat radio in the headline bout but Dunedin stadium boss David Davies was arguably the winner with the crowd at the inaugural Dunedin Casino Southern Showdown charity boxing event.
The black-tie night at the Lion Foundation Arena featured 11 bouts between novice boxers who have never stepped into a ring before.
And it was Davies, the 53-year-old Welshman at the helm of Dunedin's controversial Forsyth Barr Stadium who stole the show in one of the three feature bouts.
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Up against lawyer and sports agent Warren Alcock, five years his junior, Davies was knocked down in round one but got back up and fought back.
In round two Davies also copped an early shot but recovered well to finish the fight strongly in a courageous effort.
The judges awarded the fight to Alcock but the crowd clearly disagreed with the split decision.
In the headline fight of the night Otago Daily Times circulation manager James Smith was in trouble early against More FM radio announcer Damian Newell.
But Smith, the smaller man, fought back strongly in rounds two and three to gain a unanimous decision.
In the other feature bout Taieri rugby player Charlie O'Connell and University A player Dale Jarden treated the crowd to a slugfest before O'Connell was judged the winner.
Earlier, in the first fight of the night Devin Stepley beat Jason Hughes after dominating the first two rounds and then withstanding a strong fightback in the third.
Following this was an employer-employee battle in which Barry Smith just won a split decision over Andrew Leys before the crowd was treated to another close fight in first female bout on the card featuring Rosie Finigan and Rowena Davenport. Davenport, a 34-year-old mum, won in a split decision.
The noise levels rose for the next fight in which David Miskimmin (47) was a clear crowd favourite in his clash with Russell Lundy (50). Amid plenty of wholehearted slugging Lundy won a unanimous decision.
Fighting Irishman Chris Burke (34) then won a split decision over James Graham (26) in the next bout before Sheryn McLeod beat Leanne Fry.
Next up was insurance broker Tom West who dominated his fight with James Mitchell to win a unanimous decision before the heavyweights Francis Fitzpatrick and Mark Miller went toe to toe. Miller won that one.
