DJ Tuini wants to lower the boom on her fellow TV star and estranged friend, singer Jade Louise.
The stars of hit reality show The GC will square off in the boxing ring next month, on the undercard of the Joseph Parker v Brian Minto fight.
Tuini (real name Elyse Minhinnick) was braced for a “really tough fight” in the grudge match, which has brewed since she and Jade Louise (Harawira) fell out over their co-star, The GC hunk Tame Noema.
The TV show followed the lives and loves of a group of tanned, toned and trendy young Maori working and playing hard on Queensland’s Gold Coast.
“I’m working my a— off in training,” Tuini told Sunday News.
“I obviously care about the outcome … I’ll go for the knockout.”
Tuini said she has copped name-calling since she kissed Noema, who Jade Louise had earlier broken up with, at a nightclub.
“We [she and Jade Louise] have a beef that goes a long way back,” Tuini said.
“She said several times on the show she wanted … to knock me out … I thought, all right then let’s settle it.”
Tuini started hitting the punching bags in earnest and has been in three boxing bouts over the past year. Her record is one win by knockout, one loss and one split decision.
In April, Tuini put up a Twitter post urging Jade Louise to get in the boxing ring and “lay our s— to rest”.
Jade Louise said she initially thought the tweet was a joke but was now in serious training mode.
“I’ve never boxed before so I’m still learning all the fundamentals and I’ve only just started training,” Jade Louise told Sunday News.
Although she’d never pulled on the boxing gloves before, Jade Louise said she had been in “a few scrapes” on the streets of the Gold Coast.
“I’m not scared of anything or anybody,” she said. “Her [Tuini’s] experience might get the better of me but I’m pretty tough.”
The tale of the tape has both at 58kg and 175cm.
Jade Louise said she had nothing to lose.
“I reckon anything’s possible. If Tuini loses to me she’ll look bad. I’m going to give it my best shot and do anything I can to win.”
Tuini said she was training two hours a day, six days a week.
The bout was a chance to prove her detractors wrong, she said.
“I feel like I’m fighting for respect. She [Jade Louise] made me look bad on national TV. Her and other [The GC] cast members were … bagging me out. I’m quietly confident I can get one back.”
The Hydr8ZERO Heavyweight Explosion Joseph Parker v Brian Minto fight will be held on Saturday, July 5, at Vodafone Events Centre, Manukau.
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– Sunday News
