Duken Holo Tutakitoa-Williams (born 17 August 1998) is a

Niue Niue (, ; niu, Niuē) is an island country in the South Pacific Ocean, northeast of New Zealand. Niue's land area is about and its population, predominantly Polynesian, was about 1,600 in 2016. Niue is located in a triangle between Tong ...

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

and the first

athlete competing in the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

history to win

Island's first ever medal. Williams is from the village of

Liku, Niue Liku is one of the fourteen villages of Niue, located close to the easternmost part of the island. It lies due east of the capital, Alofi, and its population at the 2017 census was 98. Geography Liku is connected to the capital by a road which tra ...

. In April 2022, he won the New Zealand national cruiserweight title. In June 2022, he was selected for Niue's team for the

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England bet ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

. At the games he defeated the

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

Michael Schuster Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian and ...

to secure a place in the heavyweight semi-final. The victory guaranteed him at least the bronze, making him Niue's first Commonwealth games medalist. In October 2023, he was announced for the Niue squad in the

2023 Pacific Games The 2023 Pacific Games, officially known as the XVII Pacific Games, will be a continental multi-sport event for Oceania countries and territories that is scheduled to be held in Honiara, Solomon Islands between 19 November and 2 December 2023. T ...

. Later that month, his house was raided by police and his assets were frozen. Due to his sponsors pulling out, he was forced to fundraiser money to pay for his own plane ticket to the games in

Honiara Honiara () is the capital and largest city of Solomon Islands, situated on the northwestern coast of Guadalcanal. , it had a population of 92,344 people. The city is served by Honiara International Airport and the seaport of Point Cruz, and lie ...

. Williams won the gold medal in the 81-86kg division after defeating Gabriel Dalphin in the final.

References

1998 births Living people Niuean male boxers Commonwealth Games competitors for Niue Commonwealth Games medallists in boxing Commonwealth Games bronze medallists Boxers at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2022 Commonwealth Games {{Oceania-boxing-bio-stub