Bay's chance to put on show at fight night

Source: http://www.bayofplentytimes.co.nz/sport/news/bays-chance-to-put-on-show-at-fight-night/3913641/


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BOXING

Hamilton's had it and Auckland got in on the act last time - now Tauranga's appetite for big-stage boxing is about to be put to the test by a group of Sydney-based promoters organising a professional fight night in 2 weeks.

Dubbed "Big Time Boxing hits the Bay," Sydney-based Next Generation management have hired Tauranga's QEII Youth Centre for a 10-fight card highlighted by the WBO Asia-Pacific heavyweight title bout between American Indian Chauncy Welliver and Auckland-based former kickboxing champion Daniel Tai.

Next Generation's George Christodolou and business partner Calum Morrison manage a stable of NRL and rugby union players, including Dragons prop Michael Weyman, but have expanded into boxing.

Christodolou said from Sydney they had singled out Tauranga after noticing a dearth of top-level sport in New Zealand's fifth-largest city.

"On the back of the recent Tua-Cameron fight there's so much demand for top-quality boxing in this country which has not been met by supply," Christodolou said.

"Tauranga is undoubtedly a city that does not get its fair share of top level entertainment and events. The mixture of youth and retired-aged demographics are a solid foundation for the prime boxing/entertainment target market."

Tauranga-born Australian Idol winner Stan Walker had been contracted to provide fight night entertainment and the boxing would be filmed and aired by Maori Television.

Kiwi-based American heavyweight Welliver, who has just secured a world No 12 ranking with the WBO and is known as the Fat Dorky White Guy because of his sizeable girth, is the main drawcard, up against Tai.

The fight will be a war. There is serious bad blood between the two stemming from their previous fight two years ago which ended when Tai was disqualified," Christodolou said.

"He's waited two years to seek revenge so expect a bloodbath."

Included on the professional undercard is super middleweight Daniel McKinnon, a quarterfinalist on the TV series The Contender Australia, Samoans Vaitele Soi and Warren Fuiava and Rotorua's Armagh Sykes, the son of former national champion Michael Sykes who will be making his pro debut.

Christodolou hopes to attract 1500-2000, with tickets starting at $35 (standing), $45 (general seating), $200 VIP ringside seating and $150 (standard table seating).

Wow!! Sounds good....

Is this the 22 May gig for Stan???

+ thanks Renee

yes

cool...are you going GC? Stan loves coming home to the whanau...woohoo 2nd concert in Tauranga...

Chauncy welliver is the man.. Anyone with the nickname.. "The fat dorky white guy" has to be awesome.. I think he was on the undercard for the Tua - Cameron fight...

Stan should just come to wellington instead.. There's a few big parties on this weekend he could perform at..

i'll be there for sure. Bringing a crew from Auckland. want the hear him sing "unbreakable" live. He was on the radio this morning. Said he's gonna be in Tauranga on Friday for the boxing weigh-in at the cornerstone pub. should be sweet eh cuzzy

Yes Stan is in Christchurch at the moment, I met him on Sunday night..

Well...spill your gutz Nicola!! lol...come on where's your story cuz? I wanna hear it!!I wanna hear about how Stan is and everything...this is what this forum is for cuz...did Sophie and um sorry your other lil sweetheart meet him tooo?

GC...don't you mean 'Unbroken' cuz?...aww I wanna go to the fight...sorry Super looks like he won't be in Wellys after all...you'll just have to go to the fight in Tauranga and meet GC there... I can't...I hate these crutches!!hahaha...

Here is another acticle that came out today.

Source: http://www.bayofplentytimes.co.nz/local/news/stans-on-a-flying-visit-but-sure-to-find-time-for-/3914367/


Australian Idol star Stan Walker will return to his hometown of Tauranga this weekend to sing at a boxing event.

The 19-year-old lived at Mount Maunganui and went to Arataki Primary School before his family moved to Waikato and then the Gold Coast.

Walker, who shot to fame last year winning Australian Idol, said Mount Maunganui had helped shape him as a person.

"It's so awesome [there]. That's where it started. There's a lot of talented people out here and in my family."

And Walker was eager to return to Tauranga to sing at The Big Time Boxing Title Fight Night on Saturday.

"Man, it's going to be awesome. I can't wait to come back," he told the Bay of Plenty Times.

"It's going to be fun. It's an awesome event to be part of."

But he won't get much free time to catch up with his family and friends at Tamapahore Marae, as he flies to Sydney on Sunday morning after arriving in Tauranga on Friday.

He will have just an hour free but he already knows what he wants to do - eat.

"I'll try to get a quick feed in with the family, some raw fish. I think my aunty is making me some rewana bread - that's my favourite."

Walker was last in Tauranga in January, when he signed albums at Bayfair shopping centre and performed at Matakana Island's Natural Breeze festival.

Walker has fond memories of growing up in Mount Maunganui, despite speaking out about experiencing family violence there as a child.

"[I remember] the mean weather and just growing up with family, and not caring about anything, and working on the farm and doing chestnut picking. I've got many homes now but New Zealand will always be my home."

And Kiwi fans were "more full-on" than those in Australia, Walker said with a laugh.

Walker moved to Sydney from the Gold Coast after his Australian Idol win.

His life, he said, was unrecognisable from before the TV show.

"It's been full-on. I guess everything has changed - the way I look, and talk, and sound. Everything has changed.

"I'm travelling all the time, I'm living in a different place.

"It's all good, I love it. It's the best thing I've ever done, it's the hardest but the best."

His fame meant he could no longer go out on the town like most 19-year-olds. But Walker said it was still possible to be "normal".

"When I'm around my family and friends it's possible. I'm just still the same old Stan, just more people know me."

Walker will appear at a press conference at The Cornerstone Pub on The Strand at 6.30pm on Friday.

The Big Time Boxing Title Fight Night will be held at the Queen Elizabeth Youth Centre in Tauranga on Saturday at 6.30pm.

The boxing show will include a New Zealand national and WBO Asia-Pacific Title Fight between Chauncy Welliver and Daniel Tai.

I don't know if this is the right place to post this, but Kiwiana cuz, this is for you :-) I did meet Stan briefly on Sunday night at Christchurch airport.
I got a real shock when I saw on Twitter at lunchtime on Sunday that he said he was flying to Christchurch that day. As he said he was at the airport, we thought he must be flying in late afternoon so we decided we'd all go as a family to see if we could say Hi and Welcome to Christchurch. But then he "tweeted" that he was going to have a 6 hour wait at the airport, so we realised that he must be coming in on the 11:15 pm Jetstar flight. I thought I might still go out and say "Hi" and "Welcome" anyway as we only live a 10 minute drive from the airport. Sophie (5) drew him a picture and I said I'd give it to him for her if I got to meet him, as it was too late to take her out to the airport though she really wanted to go.We didn't think her teacher would appreciate having a grumpy, tired child in class the next day!
So off I went at nearly 11pm to the airport to wait and see if I could even catch a glimpse of Stan and maybe get a photo of him.
I fully expected there to be a crowd of screaming teenagers when I got there - but there was only ME waiting to see Stan. How embarrassing! I was so nervous - I've never been so nervous in my entire life, my heart was beating so hard, my hands were shaking and I could hardly hold my phone to text my husband at home, and I had to keep reminding myself to breathe as I discovered that I was subconciously holding my breath and I've never felt so close to fainting in my entire life and at my age too - how stupid did I feel? Like a "recycled teenager!" I have discovered how powerful the mind is - no matter how hard I tried to tell myself how silly I was being at my age (38) and that Stan is just a person, and going over a Bible verse in my mind "God has not given me a spirit of fear, but of power, love and of a sound mind", and even trying to pray, NOTHING HELPED! I wasn't sure I'd even be able to speak! I guess it was because he's special to me as God has used him to bless my life and I've been praying for him each day for over 6 months now, and I never imagined that he would be coming to Christchurch so suddenly. I also thought that this may be the only opportunity I ever have to meet him and so, "carpe diem" sieze the day (more like a moment of madness!).

As time wore on and the customs doors opened and closed as more people came out, I kept watching and finally spotted him - I recognised the "afro" and the big fake glasses he wore on "idol". As he came out of the customs doors looking at his i-phone, he looked up and I waved and smiled. He saw and acknowleged me so I started walking towards him. I managed to say "Hi Stan, Welcome to Christchurch".
His manager "Champo" and brother Mike were with him and his manager thought I was someone named Kate who I presume was supposed to be meeting them. Once he (Champo) established that I wasn't this person, he went into "dealing with the fan" mode. I went to give Stan Sophie's picture and Champo took it saying "He can read it in bed" and I'm thinking, "It's a kid's picture, you don't read it!"
The rest is a bit of a blur as I was so nervous but I did ask Stan if he was doing a performance here and he seemed overwhelmed by the busyness of the week ahead and said something along the lines of "Farout, it's pretty full-on eh" and didn't elaborate further - and I noticed since on Twitter that he didn't say while he was here what he was in Christchurch for apart from going to the movies so it must've been a bit "top secret"!
Mike was standing apart from Me, Stan and Champo looking highly amused at the proceedings. I was standing to Stan's right looking up at him - I was amazed at how tall he is and he appeared to me to be quite thin (though I didn't "look him over" as my eyes were on his face the whole time). I couldn't believe I was really looking at him and talking to him. His skin was flawless and the earrings he wore were HUGE! Those are the things that really stood out to me.
Not much else was said apart from Champo commenting that I'd come a long way so late at night - I said that I only lived 10 minutes away and that I thought it might be the only opportunity I would ever have to meet Stan.
Champo was in a hurry to get away as it was 11:45pm or so by this time and Stan shook my hand and I looked down and there was the famous tattoo. He said "God Bless you " etc and they all turned & started to leave. I suddenly realised that I didn't have a photo and said "Is it too late to ask for a photo?" My camera was ready in my pocket. Champo wasn't keen, so I said that I realised they wanted to get away and it would be quick. Stan came and stood beside me and put his arm around my shoulder and I put my arm around his waist. I kept thinking "Can he feel me shaking with nerves?", and Champo took the photo and said "that's a nice one!".
Stan said "It was nice to meet you" and "God Bless", shook my hand again and we all left.
So that's it - it was ok, but nothing to "write home about" really! I was so nervous it ruined it for me in a way! I didn't say as much as I would liked to have to Stan and Champo was trying hard to get away so that didn't help matters. But the best bit was the photo and at least I have that to prove that I've met Stan in person.
He was tired from the long day and appeared overwhelmed as I said earlier and it seemed that Champo had everything in hand and Stan was just going along for the ride - he didn't really seem to know what was going on this week!
So hope you enjoyed my little story for what it's worth - it certainly was one of life's interesting experiences where you learn some interesting things about yourself and how you react in certain situations! It's one that was so nerve-wracking that I won't be in a hurry to repeat it I must admit!

awww Nicola...THAT WAS GREAT!!! I thoroughly enjoyed reading your stan~story...especially

I fully expected there to be a crowd of screaming teenagers when I got there - but there was only ME waiting to see Stan. How embarrassing! I was so nervous - I've never been so nervous in my entire life, my heart was beating so hard, my hands were shaking and I could hardly hold my phone to text my husband at home, and I had to keep reminding myself to breathe as I discovered that I was subconciously holding my breath and I've never felt so close to fainting in my entire life and at my age too - how stupid did I feel? Like a "recycled teenager!" I have discovered how powerful the mind is - no matter how hard I tried to tell myself how silly I was being at my age (38) and that Stan is just a person, and going over a Bible verse in my mind "God has not given me a spirit of fear, but of power, love and of a sound mind", and even trying to pray, NOTHING HELPED! I wasn't sure I'd even be able to speak! I guess it was because he's special to me as God has used him to bless my life and I've been praying for him each day for over 6 months now, and I never imagined that he would be coming to Christchurch so suddenly. I also thought that this may be the only opportunity I ever have to meet him and so, "carpe diem" sieze the day (more like a moment of madness!).

aww that's exactly how I felt when I first went to meet Stan...but I was lucky coz he'd gone and I had 2 days to calm my nerves and work out what to do and say...

but thank~you so much Nicola...you did an awesome job cuz..really fantastic...A TRUE FAN!!...all of here have felt the same way as you at meeting Stan...I mean you don't realise how freaky it's going to be...haha...aw cuz you should read my first story I put up...called 'how I met Stan'...it's around here somewhere...

but man you cracked me up and to campo...gosh he needs to chill...
I'm glad you were the only one there at the airport to meet Stan...what a blessing...SSFF all the way gf!!

aww thanx Nicola...you're the man!! Big hugs to the girls cuz...

Thanks Nicola!
I think we all felt like you the first time we met Stan hehehehe "recycled teenager" is good

I agree with Kiwiana... champo I think they were both tired and trying to get to the hotel as fast as they could also the person it was supposed to meet them wasn't there so may be Champo was annoyed with that too..... but your daughter's drawing?? he could have showed a little more kindness on that, he probably didn't even see it when you gave it to him. I am sure Stan loved the drawing!

When you say a "moment of madness" I feel exactly the same.
When i flew to sydney to meet him and when i went to Melbourne city on a train with my kids to find the video-shooting location... that were 'moments of madness' for me and you know what? It did good to my persona more than everything else. It means our spirit is still young alive and well! isn't that fantastic?

simo xx

Thanks for your kind words Simo and Kiwiana, I need them! I really feel like I came across to them as some kind of crazed, stalky fan when I'm not really! Stan is not my "idol" - Jesus has top place in my heart and Stan has just been a channel of God's blessing so I'm thankful and wished I could've expressed that to him - but the situation wasn't appropriate. Stan was caught off-guard and was tired and not in "meet and greet mode" - not that he wasn't gracious and lovely - he was, but I didn't have a chance to really have a chat with him. I don't know what Champo thought I was going to do! A woman of my age, and obviously a Mum having given him my daughter's drawing, honestly! I realised how late it was and didn't want to keep them long - but I guess he (Champo) didn't understand that. Hindsight is a great thing - I should've taken Marilyn next door with me and having her to distract me would've calmed the nerves a bit perhaps and it wouldn't have been so awkward!
If (and it's a big IF) I had another perhaps more appropriate opportunity such as an album signing where there are lots of people around, it might be different, I'd have my children and my neighbour with me to be a distraction and hopefully Stan won't remember me, and I'd have more time to prepare for it.
So to conclude, I'll let Stan the Man have the last word:
Stan "tweeted" the following an hour ago and it really spoke to me:
"Oh lifes 2 good 2 live in a dumb moment that doesn't meet our expectations. Keep moving forward.God is good."It feels like it was just written for me!

Awwwwwwwwww Nicola! I was thrilled to read your post! How awesome was it that you were there to greet him!!
I bet that made him feel special that someone took time out of their day to meet him at that time of night!

I'm truly happy you got the chance to meet him. He's such an amazing young man and so grounded and nice!

So to conclude, I'll let Stan the Man have the last word:
Stan "tweeted" the following an hour ago and it really spoke to me:
"Oh lifes 2 good 2 live in a dumb moment that doesn't meet our expectations. Keep moving forward.God is good."It feels like it was just written for me!

aww yes it was just for you Nicola...you're not a crazed stalky fan...I am! haha jokes..we have to seize opportunities where they present themselves or else we miss out and regret it later...Who know's when Stan was gonna come to back to CHCH...you have an experience to remember always...YOU alone were there to meet him and represent all of us cuz...it's a special moment... he would have realised after a good sleep how blessed he was to have a nice person like you to meet him at the airport...thanx for sharing with us cuz...you're awesome!! xo

the SSFF rocks! and I think he knows that we're everywhere bwahahahaha

oooops .... the night didn't go well for the organisers according to this Bay Of Plenty Times article.

actually the article is pretty interesting... lots of complaining apparently by the crowd for different reasons.

Would be good to hear from someone who was there on the night... GC did you go? how was it?

Few harsh word about the choice of having Stan performing during the event .... what do you think?

Promoters floored after fight-night failure


They rolled the dice and lost, with Sydney-based boxing promoters Next
Generation Events taking a financial hit in the vicinity of $40,000 following
Saturday's woefully-supported 'big time' professional event in Tauranga.
Dubbed "Big Time Boxing hits the Bay," Next Generation management hired
Tauranga's QEII Youth Centre for the 11-fight card, which was highlighted by the
WBO Asia-Pacific heavyweight title bout between American Indian Chauncy Welliver
and Auckland-based former kickboxing champion Daniel Tai.
Needing 1000 punters to fork out between $35 to $200 each to cover their
$70,000 outlay, Next Generation's George Christodolou and business partner Calum
Morrison are today counting the cost of the failed venture, with half that
number - not all paying - attending the hyped fight night, leaving the
substantial five-figure financial headache.
"She's been a real tough week, mate - it's a tough town and a tough crowd," a
shellshocked Christodolou said at 1am on Sunday morning as he totted up the
damage.
"It's been a learning curve, and a pretty steep one for us. We took a massive
gamble and in this game you win some and you lose some. For us tonight
unfortunately it's a big loss.
"Everyone's had an unbelievable time, and I think we've put on an
entertaining night, but it's a big financial blow."
The night didn't get off to a great start when spectators who had turned up
at 5.30pm were locked out of the QEII for 45 minutes while tickets were tracked
down, with complaints also about the quality of the food and lack of service on
offer at the sparsely-populated corporate tables.
Christodolou, who singled out Tauranga after noticing a dearth of top-level
sport in New Zealand's fifth-largest city, conceded on Saturday it was probably
a mistake to target such a boxing backwater.
"The city was completely foreign to us and that was probably our biggest
mistake. We arrived with no real local contacts, a lack of local knowledge and
everything was probably a little rushed.
"Hamilton (on the back of last October's David Tua/Shane Cameron fight) might
have been the better option for attracting a bigger boxing crowd."
Tauranga-born Australian Idol winner Stan Walker was contracted by Next
Generation to provide fight-night entertainment. Walker's fee for what amounted
to just five songs accompanied by CD back-up music was believed to be
$15,000-$20,000.
"That was a vital mistake, too. We overestimated the pulling power of Stan
and mish-mashing an entertainment show and a boxing event like we did.
"Stan wasn't cheap and it's obvious the boxing market didn't quite like Stan
and Stan's crowd, or the the kind who'd pay to come and see him sing, didn't
necessarily like boxing, or didn't have the money to come to our show."
Oropi's Peter Fluerty, who has successfully staged professional fights in
Tauranga in the past and refereed several of Saturday's fights, said Next
Generation fell down in several key areas.
"It's a tough sell for sure but this event was probably a month too early.
I've done promotions in this town and it takes two or three months to get people
on board.
"These guys came in at such short notice, with their total promotion done in
four weeks. Tauranga's not the sort of city where you can do that and get away
with it."
Fluerty said Christodolou and Morrison also didn't give themselves sufficient
time to tap into the corporate market or source sponsors for individual fights,
vital areas that could have alleviated their extensive overheads.
"It was a good night in patches - that Aussie girl (super featherweight Erin
McGowan) was world class - but these guys took a huge risk that failed to pay
off.
"I'm still questioning what possessed them to come to Tauranga in the first
place. I know behind the scenes they were advised by several people it was the
place to come . . . clearly it was the wrong advice."
Christodolou said they would be re-thinking their entire New Zealand
strategy, despite past success in Auckland.
"If we came back we'd know a lot better, but we had a crack and small
consolation is that people enjoyed the night. Every promoter has their losses,
that's the nature of the beast.
"We've planned to take boxing right around the country, with Tauranga our
first port of call. After tonight it's probably also our last port of call.''

credit source: http://www.bayofplentytimes.co.nz/sport/news/promoters-floored-after-fight-night-failure/3914629/

Interesting article Simo, didnt think it was too harsh about Stan. I thought it was a fair call really. They didnt criticise his performance so much just more about boxing fans versus stan fans. I think that maybe they were banking on him been a local boy too much, could pull a big crowd. The fault of the promoters not Stan

hmmmm...well a lesson learned! The promoters should have had it in Aux(Auckland) coz there are lots of corporates who would have loved a night out boxing and Stan...Poor Tauranga isn't the place for that...they weren't prepared at all and suffered...
but Stan didn't, so I'm happy for him...He got paid his fee ($15~$20,000)for a half~hour gig and went home for some raw fish,rewana bread and hugs from the whanau lol

They really should have researched their market better. Any decent promoter would have don't you think?

Poor Stan - how humiliating really - should the newspaper have published his appearance fee - I wonder if that should have been the subject of a confidentiality agreement surely? No wonder he didn't make any comment on Twitter on how the night went. At least his performance the next night at Darling Harbour apparently went really well...I guess for him it's a case of moving on to the next thing and hopefully his management will be a little more careful in what performances they agree to in future.

I hope it spurs him to perform the best he ever has! These are the gigs you dread, but its
what makes you a professional, toughens you up and makes you a better performer! They arent pretty
but its an opportunity to learn and perfect your craft; never stop listening...never stop learning...
never stop trying to give people more than what they paid for...sometimes the harder route is the best...

Hikoi wrote:I hope it spurs him to perform the best he ever has! These are the gigs you dread, but its
what makes you a professional, toughens you up and makes you a better performer! They arent pretty
but its an opportunity to learn and perfect your craft; never stop listening...never stop learning...
never stop trying to give people more than what they paid for...sometimes the harder route is the best...

Nice one Hikoi....second that!

Hikoi wrote:I hope it spurs him to perform the best he ever has! These are the gigs you dread, but its
what makes you a professional, toughens you up and makes you a better performer! They arent pretty
but its an opportunity to learn and perfect your craft; never stop listening...never stop learning...
never stop trying to give people more than what they paid for...sometimes the harder route is the best...

Good post hikoi!!
Constructive critics are good for the young and upcoming entertainer like Stan.
I double second that!!!