Robert Colley

Robert Colley, born in Christchurch in 1954, made a happy visit to the city of his birth for the 1974 Christchurch Commonwealth Games.

By then he was being coached by Bob Elley in Porirua and was on his way to building a tidy array of national titles. He was the New Zealand lightweight champion in 1973 and 1974, and went on to win the light-welterweight crown in 1975 and the welterweight title in 1976.

In Christchurch, Colley, who stood 1.81m (5ft 11½), won the bronze medal in the lightweight (under 60kg) division. In the first round he had a comfortable points win over Cook Islander Vaka Rima. Next up he faced Lesotho’s Robert Moepi and had to work very hard to get through on a majority points verdict.

That put Colley into the semi-finals, where he faced the formidable southpaw Ayub Kayule of Uganda, one of the most scientific boxers in the division. The angular Kayule was too good, though Colley hung in with him throughout the three rounds. Later in 1974, Kayule won the world amateur welterweight title in Cuba. He later turned professional and became the WBA light-middleweight champion.

In 1976, Colley fought in the light-welterweight section in the Montreal Olympics. He'd beaten Australian Gary Austin in the final Olympic trials. The division was dominated by Ray Leonard, this in the days before he became Sugar Ray. Colley’s Games appearance was brief – he was disqualified in the third round of his first fight, against Russian Valeri Limasov.

Colley, listed as a fitter and turner in 1976, turned professional soon afterwards, winning 16 fights and losing two from 1977-80. He restricted himself to fights in New Zealand and Australia.