Mose Auimatagi Jnr Scheduled For International Return

New Zealand Born boxer Mose Auimatagi Jnr will be returning to the ring after almost a two-year hiatus. The professional boxer now residing in Australia will return to the ring in Dubai on the 17th of December.

The last time we saw Mose Auimatagi Jr was on the 19th of December 2020 when he lost to a much tougher David Light at ABA Stadium in Auckland for the WBO Oriental Cruiserweight title. Since his loss, Auimatagi has moved to Australia to train out of the Moloney Brothers gym.

Auimatagi comes from a big boxing family that produced a lot of professional boxers. Mose started his boxing career as a successful amateur when he made his professional debut at the age of 19. Trained out of Papatoetoe boxing gym under Grant Arkell who trained Joseph Parker in his amateur career.

Auimatagi struggled to get results in his first two years as a pro with a record of 1 - 1 - 2 in his first four fights. However, he turned it all around when he began his four-year winning streak, starting off with a knockout win for the New Zealand National (NZNBF version) Middleweight title against Ivana Siau.

He started causing upsets when he stopped Reagan Dessaix in the first round. He went for his next title when he fought former WBO top 10 ranked boxer Gunnar Jackson for the New Zealand National (NZPBA version) and UBF Asia Pacific Middleweight titles. The fight being so close, Auimatangi won with just a knife edge close majority decision. Now holding three titles and unifying the New Zealand Middleweight division. He kept pretty active for the rest of 2016.

He started off his 2017 in March strong with a stoppage win over former WBA top 15 ranked boxer Adrian Taihia, causing another massive upset. A month later, Auimatangi took part in a four-man professional boxing tournament with the winner winning “The Force” Super Middleweight title. In the semi-finals, he took Ivana Siau in a rematch. Throughout the fight Ivana Siau was running around the ring, trying not to get hit and acting up. It was dubbed a total disrespect to boxing as he was not there to fight. Auimatagi won the fight by an easy unanimous decision.

In the finals, he took on Jordan Tai who at the time was the only person to give Auimatangi a defeat in professional boxing. The fight was close, however, Auimatangi got to take home the win by unanimous decision winning his fourth title.

Unfortunately due to a hand injury, Auimatangi was out of the ring for 11 months, before making his return to the ring. On the Joseph Parker vs Anthony Joshua unified world heavyweight title fight undercard in 2018, Auimatangi took on undefeated Morgan Jones. Jones was winning every round including knocking Auimatangi down. However, Auimatangi turned the fight around when he stopped jones in the last 8 seconds of the last round. This was another massive achievement for Auimatangi and was arguably another upset that he caused.

In May 2019, Auimatangi fought New Zealand Light Heavyweight champion Ratu Dawai in a non-title fight. It was a big win as he stopped Dawai in the fourth round. This was a warm-up fight as he took on former Australian Champion Kerry Foley. This was a massive opportunity as it was for the Interim WBA Oceania and WBC - OPBF Silver Super Middleweight titles. Auimatangi dominated the fight which eventually led to him Knocking out Jones in the sixth round, winning his sixth professional title.

In 2020, Auimatangi fought his next big opponent when he took on Belgian National Champion Ilias Achergui. Auimatangi failed to make the Light Heavyweight weight limit the week of the fight, however, an agreement was reach to have the fight continue. This was another close fight, however Auimatangi took home the win by Unanimous Decision. The next time we will see Auimatangi is against David Light. After the fight against Light, Auimatangi received his first world ranking among the major four (WBA, WBO, WBC and IBF). He reach the top 30 in the Light Heavyweight division with the WBC.

Mose Auimatagi Jnr has accomplished a lot in his career, but despite his accomplishments, his big heart in the ring and how much he has proven, he is still one of the most underrated boxer in New Zealand history. Since 2017, he has been increasingly less active. Auimatangi is still 27 years old, has a lot of skill and truely an intentional contender.

This announcement comes at a time where New Zealander Mea Motu is fighting in Dubai against Nastaran Fathi this weekend. Auimatangi is booked to fight on December 17th in Dubai against a boxer yet to be announced. We hope to find out the opponent over next couple of weeks however we hope this will lead him into the world rankings. Auimatangi has been working hard training over past 12 weeks, however this fight has only been confirmed last week.

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