The British actor, taking a break in the resort from shooting the shark epic Meg in Auckland, trained at Industrial Fitness at the same time as Queenstown boxer Richie Hadlow.
Hadlow, who won his third national light welterweight title this year, said Statham (49) was "absolutely just generous as".
"He did some muscle-ups and stuff — he was working real well."
Hadlow said they chatted about boxing.
"We spoke about Joseph Parker and a few of the other fights coming up. He’s definitely a boxing fan.
"I just asked him about his background because I heard he was a gymnast like myself.
"He’s done a bit of gymnastics but he focused a lot on the diving."
Statham represented England in diving at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland.
Hadlow said Statham was impressed to hear about his aspirations to represent New Zealand at the Commonwealth Games on Australia’s Gold Coast in 2018.
Statham shot to fame in 1998 with a part in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.
More recently he has been involved with blockbuster franchises like The Transporter, Fast & Furious and The Expendables.
On Saturday, Statham’s fiancee, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, shared an Instagram snap with her 6.1 million followers of the couple on a snowy mountain near Queenstown.
- Philip Chandler
