Last year was one to savour for the Team Hammerhead kickboxer/boxer. The Melbourne-based Dunedin man had two exhibition bouts and won seven of his eight fights, including winning the International Kickboxing Federation light-middleweight world title in July.
Haley (21) said being a world champion was a dream come true after beating Piotr Lagodzki via a sixth-round technical knockout.
Haley put Lagodzki down in the fourth, fifth and sixth rounds before finishing him off with a face kick then a barrage of punches.
He said it was one of his proudest moments because his father was, as always, in his corner along with initial boxing coach Bryan Usher and trainer Matt Toa, and his mother and uncles were ringside.
''Being in the middle of the ring and hearing the national anthem was an amazing feeling and I knew it was my time,'' Haley said.
In another strong performance, Haley made the final of Australia's eight-man Kings of Kombat light-middleweight eliminator tournament in April, when he fought with one healthy arm after his more powerful right had been injured by Martin Tchong in their semifinal.
He lost the final by split decision after being deducted a point for an illegal clinch, but got back to winning ways in a rematch with Tchong in June.
Against Tchong, Haley came back to his corner after the second of three scheduled rounds.
Toa told him he needed a knockout, then gave him specific instructions for a three-punch and knee combo.
Within 15 seconds, Haley had done just that.
''Words can't describe the feeling of beating an opponent with the exact thing my trainer told me. That is teamwork at its finest,'' Haley said.
The win was the culmination of three fights in three weeks after Haley had won his first pro boxing middleweight fight in Christchurch, before fighting an exhibition bout on a Hammerhead Productions show in Dunedin.
Haley won another boxing fight in October against Australian Phillip Holding and was scheduled to fight on November's Anthony Mundine v Sergey Rabchenko undercard, but the fight was pulled about five days out due to insufficient television time.
''It was a huge disappointment because I was in the best shape I had been in all year and was coming for revenge at a guy that had beaten me a while back as a kickboxer, with mainly kicks.''
With a kickboxing record of 18 wins, six losses and two draws, Haley is keen to avenge a few losses this year.
He hopes to fight in Asia, have some taekwondo fights to develop his kicking game and build on his unbeaten (two-win) professional boxing record.
With the help of manager Hisham Shamrock, he also hopes to gain enough sponsorship so he can quit his day and night jobs.
''My next fight will be my 50th all up and I would love to make it a big one in New Zealand.''
Haley was born and raised in Dunedin before moving to Melbourne in 2012, where he and fellow New Zealander Areta Gilbert train together.
He boxed as an amateur from 2009 to 2011, and had 19 fights while at Mosgiel's Olympic Boxing Gym.
Competing from 63kg up to 75kg, Haley won a South Island Golden Gloves title and three regional championships, and was runner-up two years in a row while representing Otago at the national championships.
One drunken mistake cost him dearly when he was convicted of assault and subsequently banned from competing as an amateur in New Zealand.
Haley described himself as a ''stupid and dumb'' young man at that time, and if he could change things, he would.
Haley said his parents, Rex Reihana and Tracee Haley, former boxing coaches Tony Maitland, Andy Gillies and Usher, and trainer Toa had been huge inspirations to him.
After being banned, Haley said he was told by Gillies that he had a talent and to use it, and not become that man at the pub watching fights while wondering what might have been.
Toa said Haley was a ''little bit lost'' when he came from the Olympic gym next door and into his club, but he just needed some ''direction''.
He said Haley, who won Team Hammerhead fighter of the year, had ''exceptional hand speed'' along with a ''calm head'' and a killer instinct'' for finishing fights.
He had a big future ahead of him, partly because of his wealth of experience at such a young age.
by Jack Salter
• There is no single entity controlling kickboxing. Due to various styles and different rules, there are about 15 world governing bodies.
