New Zealand-born Samoan boxer Mose Auimatagi Jnr will return to the ring after close to a two-year hiatus with a fight in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) locked in. 

The professional boxer currently resides in Australia and was last seen on 19 December 2020 when he lost to much tougher opponent David Light at the A.B.A. Stadium in Auckland when fighting for the W.B.O. Oriental Cruiserweight title. 

However, in a press release issued by his management on Thursday, they said Auimatagi has moved to Australia to train out of the Moloney Brothers gym since his loss to Light in Auckland. 

He comes from a big boxing family that produced a lot of professional boxers and started his boxing career as a successful amateur when he made his professional debut at the age of 19. He trained out of Papatoetoe boxing gym under Grant Arkell who also trained Joseph Parker in his amateur career. 

Auimatagi struggled to get results in his first two years as a pro with a record of 1-1-2 in his first four fights. However, he turned it all around when he began his four-year winning streak, starting with a knockout win for the New Zealand National (NZNBF version) Middleweight title against Ivana Siau. 

He started causing upsets when he stopped Reagan Dessaix in the first round. He went for his next title when he fought former WBO top 10 ranked boxer Gunnar Jackson for the New Zealand National (NZPBA version) and UBF Asia Pacific Middleweight titles. The fight being so close, Auimatagi won by a knife edge majority decision. 

Now holding three titles and unifying the New Zealand Middleweight division, he was active for the rest of 2016 and in 2017 in March started strong with a stoppage win over former WBA top 15 ranked boxer Adrian Taihia, causing another massive upset. A month later, Auimatagi took part in a four-man professional boxing tournament with the winner winning “The Force” Super Middleweight title. 

In the semi-finals, he took Ivana Siau in a rematch. Auimatagi won the fight by an easy unanimous decision. In the finals, he took on Jordan Tai who at the time was the only person to give Auimatagi a defeat in professional boxing. The fight was close and he got to take home the win by unanimous decision winning his fourth title. 

Unfortunately due to a hand injury, Auimatagi was out of the ring for 11 months, before making his return to the ring. On the Joseph Parker vs Anthony Joshua unified world heavyweight title fight undercard in 2018, he took on the undefeated Morgan Jones. Jones was winning every round including knocking Auimatagi down. However, he turned the fight around when he stopped Jones in the last 8 seconds of the last round. This was another massive achievement for Auimatagi and was arguably another one of his upsets. 

In May 2019 Auimatagi fought New Zealand Light Heavyweight champion Ratu Dawai in a non-title fight. It was a big win as he stopped Dawai in the fourth round and was a warm-up fight, as he later took on former Australian Champion Kerry Foley. This was also a massive fight as it was for the Interim WBA Oceania and WBC-OPBF Silver Super Middleweight titles. Auimatagi dominated the fight which eventually led to him knocking out Jones in the sixth round, winning his sixth professional title. 

In 2020 Auimatagi fought his next big opponent when he took on the Belgian National Champion Ilias Achergui but failed to make the light heavyweight weight limit during the week of the fight. However, an agreement was reached to have the fight continue. This was another close fight and Auimatagi prevailed and took home the win by unanimous decision. 

The next fight saw him take on David Light and after the fight received his first world ranking among the major four (WBA, WBO, WBC and IBF). He reach the top 30 in the Light Heavyweight division with the WBC. Auimatagi has accomplished a lot in his career, but despite his accomplishments, his heart is in the ring and how much he has proven. He is still one of the most underrated boxers in New Zealand boxing history. 

Since 2017 he has increasingly become less active but at 27 years of age, he still has a lot of skill and is an international contender. The announcement of him returning to the ring comes at a time where New Zealander Mea Motu is fighting in Dubai this weekend against Iranian boxer Nastaran Fathi. 

Auimatagi is booked to fight on 17 December in Dubai against a boxer yet to be announced, which his team hopes will lead him back into the world rankings.