La’auli Montgomery Junior "Monty" Betham (born 12 March 1978) is a professional

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 former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer. A New Zealand international representative and , he played club football for the

New Zealand Warriors The New Zealand Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as ...

in the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

, and for the

Wakefield Trinity Wildcats Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, that plays in the Super League. One of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Rugby Football League, Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, betw ...

(

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

) ( Heritage № 1234) in the

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

Background

Betham was born in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, New Zealand on 12 March 1978. His father, Samoan-born Monty Betham Sr., had 53 professional fights as a

middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have be ...

light heavyweight Light heavyweight, also referred to as junior cruiserweight or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruise ...

from 1973-1982.

Rugby league career

Betham was a

Bay Roskill Vikings The Bay Roskill Vikings are a rugby league football club based in Mount Roskill and Blockhouse Bay, New Zealand, who compete in Auckland Rugby League's Sharman Cup competition. The club was established in 1979. History The club was formed in O ...

junior, he was selected to play for Samoa at the 2000 World Cup. Betham went on to change his international allegiance and represent

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in eight tests His position of choice was at but he also played at and . On the field Betham was known for his aggressive style of play. He was once voted the player that the opposition players least want to pick a fight with in an NRL players' poll. Betham missed New Zealand's first ever finals appearance during the

2001 NRL season The 2001 NRL season was the 94th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the fourth run by the National Rugby League. Also called the 2001 Telstra Premiership (due to sponsorship from Telstra Corporation) it was contested b ...

and the

2002 NRL Grand Final The 2002 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2002 NRL season. It took place on Sunday, 6 October 2002, at Sydney's Telstra Stadium. 80,130 people saw the Sydney Roosters beat the New Zealand Warriors 30–8. T ...

due to injury. Betham's final game for the club was a 22-20 victory over Manly at

Brookvale Oval Brookvale Oval (also known by the commercial sponsorship name 4 Pines Park) is a sporting ground located within Brookvale Park at Brookvale, New South Wales, Australia. The ground is owned by Northern Beaches Council and is primarily used by th ...

in round 25 of the

2005 NRL season The 2005 NRL season was the 98th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the eighth run by the National Rugby League. The lineup of clubs remained unchanged from the previous year, with fifteen teams contesting the 2005 Telst ...

. Betham spent one year in England with

Wakefield Trinity Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, that plays in the Super League. One of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, between 1999 and 2016 the c ...

during the

2006 Super League season Engage Super League XI was the official name for the year 2006's Super League season in the sport of rugby league in Europe. Bradford Bulls were looking to retain the title they won in Super League X. The competition kicked off the weekend afte ...

Highlights

*''Junior Club:'' Papatoetoe & Bay Roskill *''First Grade Debut:'' Round 1, Auckland v Sydney City at Aussie Stadium, 8 March 1999 *''Career Stats:'' 101 career games to date scoring 10 tries *''Professional Boxing Debut:'' On 31 March 2006 Monty defeated Vai Toevai via sixth round KO in Apia, Samoa. *''Professional Boxing Record'' - 5-0-0

Boxing career

In December 2006, Betham announced his retirement from

in order to pursue a career in

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

. Betham will start out in the cruiserweight division and hopes to work his way down to

. His first fight took place in Samoa on 31 March 2007. He defeated 15 fight veteran Vai Toevai in the sixth round. In 2013, an episode of

The X Factor (New Zealand series 1) The first series of the New Zealand television reality music competition ''The X Factor'' premiered on TV3 on 21 April 2013 and ended on 22 July 2013. The show was open to singers aged 14 and over. The contestants were split into the show's four ...

was filmed at

Boxing Alley Boxing Alley is a boxing gym located in Auckland, New Zealand. The gym is known for training many professional athletes and celebrities in boxing, most notably former rugby league footballer and professional boxer, Monty Betham. It now caters to ...

gym featuring Monty Betham and contestant

Whenua Patuwai Whenua Patuwai (born 13 March 1995) is a New Zealand singer. He is known for his appearance on the first New Zealand series of ''The X Factor'' where he was the runner-up. Competing in the Boys category, he was mentored by Ruby Frost. His debu ...

Professional boxing record

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Adam Hollioake Adam John Hollioake (born 5 September 1971) is a professional athlete who is the only international cricketer to compete professionally as a Mixed Martial Artist. He has also competed as a professional boxer. However he is most well known as a cr ...

, , , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , Win , 6–1 , align=left,

Carlos Spencer Carlos James Spencer (born 14 October 1975) is a former New Zealand rugby union player and previously the head coach of the and the . He is currently an assistant coach for the New Orleans Gold of Major League Rugby (MLR). During his playing ...

, , , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , Loss , 5–1 , align=left,

Shane Cameron Shane Aaron Cameron (born 17 October 1977) is a New Zealand professional boxer. He is a former Commonwealth cruiserweight champion, having also held several regional titles at heavyweight. As an amateur he won a bronze medal in the heavywei ...

, , , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , Win , 5–0 , align=left, James Chan , , , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , Win , 4–0 , align=left, Frank Asiata , , , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , Win , 3–0 , align=left, Aaron Bartlett , , , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , Win , 2–0 , align=left, Trevor Loomes , , , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , Win , 1–0 , align=left, Vai Toevai , , , , align=left, , align=left,

Title

''Regional/International Titles:'' *NZNBF Cruiserweight Champion ''(197 lbs)'' *Samoa Cruiserweight Champion ''(196 lbs)''

Television

Betham was runner-up on Season 4 of New Zealand Dancing With The Stars in 2008. Betham is trained by Danny Codling and managed by Mick Watson. In 2007 Betham competed in New Zealand reality show '' Treasure Island:Pirates of the Pacific''. In March 2008 he competed on ''New Zealand Celebrity Joker Poker'', he made it to the final three on the final episode before being eliminated (Shortland Street actor Craig Parker was the overall winner).

''Dancing with the Stars'' (New Zealand, Season 4)

In December 2007 it was announced that Betham would compete in season 4 of ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the forma ...

'' which started in February 2008. On January 28, 2008 it was revealed on

The Edge (radio station) The Edge is a youth-oriented New Zealand entertainment brand consisting of a national radio network, a music television channel - The Edge TV, and an entertainment website. It is owned and operated by MediaWorks New Zealand. The station was fo ...

that Betham's professional dance partner would be Nerida Jantti (girlfriend of

Shane Cortese Shane Cortese (born 13 August 1968) is a New Zealand actor and singer. He is perhaps best known for his role of Mac on Nothing Trivial, Loki on the Almighty Johnsons and Hayden Peters on hit show '' Outrageous Fortune''. He was also a runner-up ...

). On April 15, 2008 he was named runner-up (

Temepara George Temepara Anne Bailey (formerly Clark, née George; born 23 October 1975 in Auckland) is a New Zealand international netball player of Samoan and Māori descent. She was a member of the Silver Ferns national squad in 1996, and from 2000–2011 ...

being the overall winner).

Filmography

*'' Treasure Island: Pirates of the Pacific'' (2007) *''Dancing With The Stars'' (Season 4, 2008) *''Celebrity Joker Poker'' (16–30 March 2008)

The Shopping Channel

In October 2012 Betham became one of the inaugural TV presenters on

The Shopping Channel (New Zealand) The Shopping Channel is a New Zealand 24/7 Infomercial channel which is broadcast on SKY TV (New Zealand), Sky satellite. The company was founded in 2010 and went live on 1 October 2012. The Shopping Channel was owned by entrepreneur Greg Part ...

New Zealand's New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island country b ...

first and only home shopping channel.

Monty Betham's Steps for Life Foundation

With his sister Chante Betham-Spencer (CEO) he founded Monty Betham's Steps for Life Foundation in 2010 to "Help NZ youth and families in the fight against childhood obesity in NZ".

Personal life

After returning home from competing on Treasure Island, Betham and his wife Jaymie celebrated the birth of their first child, a son. Betham's wife is currently expecting their second child.

References

External links

Monty Betham Official Player ProfileMonty Betham NRL Player Profile
*
Monty Betham Official WebsiteMonty Betham's Steps for Life FoundationBoxing Alley Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Betham, Monty 1978 births Living people Bay Roskill Vikings players Boxers from Auckland Fighters trained by Lolo Heimuli Junior Kiwis players New Zealand male boxers New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand people of Samoan descent New Zealand professional boxing champions New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand Warriors captains New Zealand Warriors players People educated at Marcellin College, Auckland Point Chevalier Pirates players Rugby league hookers Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Auckland Rugby league second-rows Samoa national rugby league team players Wakefield Trinity captains Wakefield Trinity players