Sideline Sid Sports correspondant & historian www.sunlive.co.nz

While Sidline Sid has little hands on involvement with boxing these days, he took the opportunity to catch up with a number of friends at the Tauranga Boxing Club Corporate Fight Night on Saturday night.

Corporate boxing, which has revitalised numbers attending boxing events in New Zealand in the last decade, matches mate against mate with plenty of white collar workers jumping into the ring.

Traditionally blue-collar workers have been the backbone of boxing, however, the advent of corporate boxing has seen men and women, from all walks of life entering the ring in combat.

The desire to compete in the ring is usually fired from a desire to get fit in a boxing environment. From one on one sparring comes a need to test one's ability against a fellow competitor.

Since time began people have engaged in gladiatorial contests. Corporate boxing is just an extension of the need to test one's fighting ability.

The first priority is always the participant's safety with the boxers undergoing a medical examination and the bouts officiated under the auspices of the New Zealand Professional Boxing Association.

Nine corporate bouts, which kept the large crowd on its feet, were just the entrée to the night's main event. Tauranga professional boxer Gunnar Jackson, who is already starting to get a cult following, engaged in his fourth professional contest.

The former highly decorated amateur star is starting to fashion a useful record in the pay to punch ranks, since his debut in May 2010.

While narrowly beaten in his first pro fight, he has since posted two wins, and a highly satisfactory draw in Australia.

On Saturday night, Jackson squared off for 12 minutes of action in the ring against tough as teak Nuisila Seuili from Auckland. Corned by Shane Cameron's amateur coach Henry Schuster, the Auckland pugilist never stopped punching in spite of a welter of punches from Jackson.

The Tauranga boxer emerged from the contest with a unanimous decision along with plenty of praise for his performance from boxing critics ringside.

It was the nature of his victory that impressed some hard-nosed boxing followers. Content to box off the back foot in the opening stanza, Gunnar upped the ante in the second round with some concerted combinations.

Clearly enjoying the outing, Jackson piled on the pressure in the last two rounds to the enjoyment of his many fans on hand. The most impressive part of the victory was that he made the last minute of each round his own, backing his opponent up in the corner.

While Gunnar's two victories have impressed, he made a real statement in his third bout when he journeyed to Perth, Australia, to trade blows with a hometown hero.

Kiwi boxers are regularly seen as just cannon fodder to pad the records of the rising stars across the Tasman. The Tauranga pugilist obviously didn't read the script as he posted a draw against his Australian opponent.

It has long been said on this side of the ditch that you have to knock out your opponent to get a draw in Aussie. If Gunnar receives further invitations to fight in Australia, it is likely to be as genuine contender rather than as an opponent to rack up the record of a so-called rising star.

Seeya at the Game.