Fight card:
Jay Reeve v Tammy Davis - Reeve wins via unanimous decision
Honey Hireme-Smiler v Tegan Yorwarth - Hireme-Smiler wins via first-round TKO
Joshua Francis v Jerome Pampellone - Pampellone wins via sixth-round TKO
Liam Messam v James Gavet - Messam wins via unanimous decision
Andrei Mikhailovich v Francis Waitai - Mikhailovich wins via unanimous decision
Main event - Carlos Spencer v Paul Whatuira - Whatuira wins via unanimous decision
10:20pm - That concludes our evening of fights. Click here for a full wrap.
Carlos Spencer v Paul Whatuira - Whatuira wins via unanimous decision
Round three - King Carlos needs a finish here. Whatuira lands a heavy left-hook to start, follows with a left to the liver. Plenty of clinching as this one comes to a conclusion. Spencer lands a decent straight right, a couple of tight shots in the clinch. That will do us, should be a comfortable decision for the former Kiwis international.
Round two - A more composed Whatuira to start this round but he's still really busy, doing some damage to the corner-bound Spencer. Whatuira stalking, launching into his left hand. Another convincing round for Whatuira.
Round one - Whatuira out of the gate! Unleashes a tirade of shots to a slightly shellshocked Spencer. Referee steps into deliver an eight count, Spencer given the all clear. One in the bag for the former Warrior.
10:05pm - Whatuira makes his way to the middle to Queen's 'Under Pressure'. Let's dance.
10:03pm - Here comes 'King Carlos', looking as composed as ever.
Andrei Mikhailovich v Francis Waitai - Mikhailovich wins via unanimous decision
9:55pm - 'The Renegade' moves to 19-0 but he's far from happy with his performance, cutting his interview short to go "get his telling off" from his trainers.
Waitai is really disappointed, he thought he'd done enough to win. Sad faces in both corners.
Round eight - Final round of the bout. Mikhailovich picking up his workrate. Waitai lands a left to the body. Mikhailovich sets up and blasts Waitai with a lightning combination. Waitai stings Andrei with the double jab, Andrei fires back with the right. We've gone the distance. Fight of two halves there, let's see what the judges say.
Round seven - Waitai undaunted, again taking the centre. Mikhailovich throwing sporadically, not putting together the combinations we saw earlier in the bout. Both men very selective with their shots. Andrei catching Waitai with a couple of rights to end the round. This is tight.
Round six - Waitai controlling the middle now. Tags Mikhailovich on the button with a pair of jabs. Evades Andrei's combo and counters again. Really close contest brewing here, as predicted.
Round five - Waitai snaps Mikhailovich's head back with a couple of right hooks. Mikhailovich loading up but can't find his mark. Waitai makes him miss and counters again. Another good round for Waitai.
Round four - Mikhailovich continually pressing forward, in with his shots and immediately out of range. Waitai landing his fair share in some of the tight exchanges. Better round for the Thames lad.
Round three - Slick head movement from Mikhailovich, countering effectively. Waitai having some success of his own with the counter shots. Varying his attack well Mikhailovich, up 3-0 on my card.
Round two - Mikhailovich comes out with more aggression, stalking Waitai and landing some clean right hands. Upstairs, downstairs from Andrei as the round ends.
Round one - Long feeling-out process, these two familiar with each others' games. Andrei looking to establish his right hand against the southpaw Waitai. Big body shots from Andrei. Waitai stings him with a straight left. Close round to start.
9:16pm - Savvy choice of walk-out song for Mikhailovich - 'Sweet Caroline' really hitting the spot at this time of the evening at Eventfinda Stadium.
9:11pm - This is the fight I've really been looking forward to - rapidly rising world-ranked Mikhailovich against Thames' own Waitai.
8:54pm - Messam with too much boxing acumen for his lesser experienced opponent.
Liam Messam v James Gavet - Messam wins via unanimous decision
Round three - Uppercut followed by the right from Messam. Action slowing here in the final round. Both men winging some heavy ones, throwing caution to the wind. Flurry to close, that should be Messam's fight.
Round two - Messam lands the straight right, follows with a massive left hook that snaps Gavet's head back. Looking much lighter on the feet, Messam. Gavet unable to land anything clean, his hands dropping as fatigue starts to set in. Lovely left to Gavet's exposed chin. Huge right from Gavet to close the round. Still, 2-0 Messam heading into the final round.
Round one - Messam connects with a couple of early left hands. Gavet loading up with his right, Messam out of the line of fire. Messam with a one-two down the pipe. Big uppercut finds its mark. Experience shining through for the former All Black.
8:40pm - Gavet walks shirtless to the ring. I probably would too if I had a body like that, the ex-Warriors powerhouse is jacked.
8:38pm - Out strolls Liam Messam, a Fight for Life veteran, to the strains of 'What's the Time Mr Wolf'. Shout out to the 'Once Were Warriors' soundtrack, a classic.
8:33pm - Fighters not too far away from making their entrance here.
8:20pm - What a statement from 'The Panther'. That would certainly have caught the attention of Aussie cruiserweight star Jai Opetaia, it seems inevitable the two will share a ring in the not-too-distant future.
Jerome Pampellone v Joshua Francis - Pampellone wins via sixth-round TKO
Round six - Lightning left hook from Pampellone and Francis goes down! Survives the eight count but Pampellone swarms and unleashes on his rope-bound opponent to force the referee to intervene.
Round five - Five up, five down for Pampellone.
Round four - Francis eats some heavy shots halfway through the round. Francis clinches but The Panther keeps finding a home for his left hook.
Round three - The Panther fighting really effectively off the back of his jab. Francis closing the distance a bit better but is eating some body shot counters for his trouble. Nice short left hand from Francis. Pampellone throws a hard three-punch flurry punctuated by a body shot. Three in the bag for Pampellone.
Round two - Pampellone countering with power here. Tags Francis with a pair of left hooks on the break. Setting a high pace.
Round one - Pampellone getting busy early with crisp combos, his trademark hand speed looking impressive.
7:47pm - First of two high quality pro bouts on tonight's card. Huge wraps on Pampellone, who's been touted as a potential opponent for Aussie star Jay Opetaia.
Honey Hireme-Smiler v Tegan Yorwarth - Hireme-Smiler wins via first-round TKO
7:36pm - The fighters embrace. Credit to Yorwarth for stepping in there with cross-code beast Hireme-Smiler. She'd have a futrure in the pros if she sought to go down that track, a natural - as you'd probably expect.
Round one - Honey putting together some flashy combos early and they're finding their mark. heavy right hand, massive left jab and Yorwarth goes down. Ref gives the eight count. Yorwarth survives but Honey is immediately all over her, backing her into the corner and unloading bombs. In comes the white towel, this one is over.
7:30pm - Yorwarth looks happy to be there, making her entrance to the seminal 'Pass the Dutchie' by Musical Youth.
7:27pm - Is it just me, or does this seem like a bit of a mismatch? Kudos to Yorwarth for taking this one on.
Jay Reeve v Tammy Davis - Reeve wins via unanimous decision
7:21pm - Reeve gets his hand raised via unanimous decision.
Davis calls for an immediate rematch. A completely gassed Reeve quickly shakes his head.
Round three - It's all on the line here, I guess. Davis wearing the fatigue, finding it tough to retain his balance. Reeve still able to throw some semblance of a punch. Mini second wind here from Davis to close, will it be enough? I'd suggest not.
Round two - Reeve remains the aggressor, Davis makes him pay for his uprightness with a big right hand. Both men looking at the end of their tanks, turning into a war of attrition here. No defence from either fighter. Davis slips. No idea who won that round, probably Davis at a push.
Round one - 'Let's go brother' says Davis as they touch gloves to start. Reeve coming forward with the jab. Lot of nervous energy here. Davis eating a steady diet of jabs here. Davis lands a heavy right hook, Reeve stumbles. Reeve pressing forward as the round closes, that should be one in the bag for him.
7:08pm - Davis takes his turn. Munter seems ready to roll, savouring this ring walk.
7:05pm - Reeve makes the evening's first entrance trailed by trainer Shane Cameron. Looking in good nick for this one, 'The Mountain Warriors' seems to have him primed.
7pm - Ding ding, we're about ready to rumble on the Shore at a packed Eventfinda Stadium.
Up shortly to get us underway, a clash between radio/TV personalities Jay Reeve and Tammy Davis.
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Kia ora and welcome to our live coverage of the return of the Fight for Life charity boxing event on Auckland's North Shore.
Despite being dealt a late blow with the loss of its main event due to the withdrawal of former All Black Keven Mealamu with a heart issue, there are still plenty of intriguing bouts on offer.
Ex-rugby showman Carlos Spencer will square off with Wests Tigers veteran Paul Whatuira in the headline act, while ex-All Blacks loosie Liam Messam relaces the gloves for a clash with former former Warriors forward James Gavet.
And scattered among the celebrity bouts are a pair of tantalising contests involving two of the fastest rising stars in NZ professional boxing, with Andrei Mikhailovich looking to record his sixth straight finish against Francis Waitai and Jerome Pampellone locking horns with Joshua Francis.
We'll have all of the action from the opening bout at 7pm.
Rising Kiwi star Andrei Mikhailovich eyes world title bid with Fight for Life victory
Rising Kiwi middleweight Andrei Mikhailovich will try to take another significant step towards world title contention, when he squares off with Frances Waitai on the undercard of the Fight for Life.
'The Russian Hammer' has turnied heads, both in New Zealand and across the Tasman, with a string of impressive performances that have caught the attention of the world's best at the weight class.
In the most recent addition to his growing highlight reel, the 24-year-old overwhelmed Venezuelan veteran Ernesto Espana in just the third round of their showdown at Brisbane last month to secure the IBF Pan Pacific title and the WBO Global belt.
That came two months after he'd stopped Commonwealth Games bronze medallist King Davidson inside two rounds.
The finish of Espana was Mikhailovich's fifth straight, extending his undefeated professional record to 18 bouts and elevated his name inside the all-important top-15 rankings with both the WBO and IBF.
Mikhailovich sees his dizzying recent ascent as just another natural step in his inevitable rise to global relevance.
"I truly feel like I deserve it," said Mikhailovich of the attention brewing around him. "I've given my all to boxing.
"For two-and-half years, I didn't see my kids. I watched them grow up on a video call.
"I watched my eldest walk for the first time on video call. Imagine that?
"I was always either at work or training. Now, I have the opportunity to just be a fighter and be a stay-at-home dad, and really be there for my kids.
"Fighting is everything to me. There's no hype - I worked for literally 10 years to get here.
"For a long time, I had nothing. Nobody cared for me."
Adopted from a Russian orphanage and brought to New Zealand as a baby, Mikhailovich's remarkable journey has taken him the breadth of the globe and now he's eager to put his name among lights.
Immediately after his win last month, Mikhailovich pointed in the direction of Australian No.2 world title contender Michael Zerafa.
Zerafa is currently poised for an IBF middleweight title bout against Brazilian Esquiva Falcao in his hometown of Melbourne in September, but there are still some big fish for manager Dean Lonergan to set up to fry across the ditch.
The most prominent of those may be Issac Hardman, who fell to his only career loss against Zerafa in April.
As far as the uber-confident Mikhailovoich is concerned, the sky is the limit.
"You can't have an end goal," he insisted. "If I put an end goal on myself, I'm capping my ability, and I'm capping who I am and what I'm all about.
"I don't have any goals - one fight at a time and I just let this whole journey unfold in front of me."
His next obstacle comes against the dangerous Waitai, a 5-1 combatant fighting out of the Never Surrender Boxing gym at Thames, and another show-stopping display could catapult him into genuine title contention.
"I have such high expectations on who I am and what I'm about that anything bar an amazing performance is not good enough for me," he said.
"Tomorrow's another fight and it's another man in my way - I need to get rid of him.
"This is a tough fight, so I've got to be really professional, really confident and just listen to my corner, and do what I do best, which is be me - be Andrei Mikhailovich.
"I feel fantastic.Training's been good and I'm always super confident and ready to rumble. Everything I do tomorrow is going to be a clinic, so I can't wait for it."
