Update 21/07/16: Lily Taurau has been declared the winner against new opponent Laura Newell after their bout in Christchurch’s Horncastle Arena tonight, thanks to a unanimous decision from the judges.
An elated Lily, who had been due to fight Bachelor New Zealand runner-up Naz Khanjani before she pulled out for medical reasons, played coy when asked about the possibility of a rematch.
“I don’t know. I’ll have to think about it,” she told Monty Betham before leaving the ring.
Original story continues below
Lily Taurau might not be facing Nazanin Khanjani in the ring tonight, but the petite radio host will still have the chance to show off her skills against another opponent.
Christchurch pre-school teacher Laura Newell has now been confirmed as Naz’s replacement after the bolshie brunette was forced to step out due to a kidney infection.
Laura was a sparring partner for Naz in the lead-up to her highly-publicised boxing bout and even trains under the same coach, Bryan Barry, at Christchurch’s Round 12 boxing gym. When the opportunity to take her place came up, the 26-year-old didn’t take much convincing.
Watch Lily and Laura’s weigh-in – story continues below
“One of my best friends who is also one of Bryan’s daughters was texting me, empowering me to go for it, [and] put my name forward,” Laura says.
“I had a wee think about it and thought, ‘awesome opportunity, I’ll go for it’. I’m just going to use the crowd and just the whole experience is something I will never forget in my life so that’s what I’m going to really focus on and just have fun.”
This isn’t Laura’s first round in the ring, either, as the 26-year-old has one previous corporate fight under her belt.
Laura (along with Joseph Parker) pictured at the weigh-in.
However, after weeks of rigorous training, Lily says she’s ecstatic about having another opponent to fight at tonight’s Burger King Road to the Title event.
“I am so happy, obviously yesterday was pretty emotional, [it was a] pretty devastating day to find out that Naz wasn’t going to be able to fight but thankfully Laura has stepped up,” she said.
“It was going to be horrible to have put all that hard work in, all the training, all the stress, and nothing come of it so I’m really, really glad.”
After seeking the advice of three separate doctors, Duco Events made the decision to pull Naz from the fight yesterday, citing concerns over her health and safety.
Watch Naz’s last update about her training progress below – story continues after the video
Lily and Naz were due to face off tonight.
The former bachelorette tweeted a message to followers from her hospital bed last night, saying she was “upset” about having to withdraw from the fight but understood why the decision had been made.
“Duco have put my H&S first which I completely understand & appreciate,” she wrote alongside a photo of herself eating a hospital meal.
