Fisi Brown

Fisi Brown boxed for New Zealand in the heavyweight division at the 1974 Christchurch Commonwealth Games.

He began his campaign well with a unanimous points win over Kenyan Sylvester Onyango, but came unstuck against a Ugandan, Benson Masanda, in the quarter-finals, losing by decision.

The big-hitting New Zealand nevertheless made quite an impression at Canterbury Court, where the boxing was held. The Official History of the Xth British Commonwealth Games records: “Although he was beaten in the quarter-finals, Fisi Brown of New Zealand, the son of a Samoan minister, was a principal contributor to the colourful entertainment offered by the heavyweights.

“In the first round he met and beat Sylvester Onyango, a well-performed Kenyan, with a display of non-stop aggression; in the second he lost a split decision vote against the defending champion, Benson Masanda (Uganda), after another roof-raising bout. And it is very probable that the pounding Masanda and Brown gave each other had its effect in the semi-finals, where Masanda was beaten in the first round by Fatai Ayinla, a southpaw from Nigeria.”

The Palmerston North boxer won one national title, in the heavyweight class in 1973. Otherwise his career clashed with Bill Byrne, who proved a formidable obstacle.