Tevita Pangai Jr. dedicates boxing debut victory to stillborn daughter

NRL star Tevita Pangai Jr. has dipped his feet in the water of the boxing world, impressing plenty while wearing his heart on his shorts.

Tevita Pangai Jr. got bit by the boxing bug. Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images

NRL star Tevita Pangai Jr. has claimed a second round TKO in the first fight of his boxing career, having dedicated to the victory to his stillborn daughter.

The Canterbury Bulldogs recruit is set to start pre-season training on Monday but had his boxing debut against former reserve grade footballer Gerico Cecil.

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After some early shots from Cecil, Pangai Jr. finished the fight in the second round with a flurry of shots.

Pangai showed some good boxing skills, jabbing confidently and defending well. But after his corner asked for a bit more in the second round, Pangai took little more than a minute to finish it as the referee waved off the fight following a stinging left hand to Cecil’s temple.

While it wasn’t a long fight, Pangai Jr. did enough to impress former WBO welterweight world champ Jeff Horn.

“He did very well for his first fight,” Horn said on Main Event.

“He landed some big shots and avoided some big shots. He wasn’t just out there swinging wildly and it looked like he had a bit of boxing ability.”

Bulldogs football boss Phil Gould must have breathed a sigh of relief, taking to Twitter to write: “Tevita Pangai Junior wins his first professional fight, by stopping his much bigger opponent in the 2nd round. TPJ handled himself very well. Now to the @NRL_Bulldogs”.

Pangai Jr. is now 1-0. Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images

TPG would be a scary man to face. Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images

But while it was a great hitout to start his dabbling in boxing, Pangai Jr. revealed that he was fighting for his daughter Georgia Lose Galilee Pangai, who was born stillborn in August at 24 weeks. Her due date was meant to be on Thursday.

Pangai Jr. and his wife Anna held a funeral for Georgia in Brisbane in August and he wore her initials on his shorts for his boxing debut.

Still births are tragically common with six per day in Australia.

Speaking with The Daily Telegraph, Pangai Jr. said it had been a tough year after he was cut by the Brisbane Broncos, then lost his daughter and then missed the Panthers NRL Grand Final victory.

“It’s been a tough time for my wife and I, but we’re here together,’’ Pangai Jr said.

“When I spoke to the nurses, you don’t realise how many people this has happened to. No one really speaks about it.

NRL star and new Bulldogs recruit Tevita Pangai Jr alongside partner Anna before his first professional fight. Picture: Zak Simmonds

“It’s really hard, especially for women. They take it much harder than their partner. As men, we have to be there for them and support them.

“Before this happened to me and someone would talk about a miscarriage or a stillbirth, I thought about it as just hard luck.

“But when you can go through it and you become a father, you experience it and you realise, it’s shattering to go through.”

Pangai was fighting on the early card of a fight night including the likes of world ranked Australian stars Jai Opetaia and Isaac Hardman, who both easily claimed victories.

Former Australia world heavyweight champion Lucas Browne also pulled off a major comeback upset against Faiga Opelu in his first fight since losing to Paul Gallen.