The American Express Queenstown Winter Festival is well underway, and the charity boxing event ‘Thriller in the Chiller’ was a hit. 1,400 people watched on as fists were flying and Sugar Ray Leonard addressed the crowd.

The winners of the three-round boxing bouts were:

• Battle of the Entertainers: Shaun ‘The Mantis‘ Vining won against Shay ‘The Muss’ Muddle
• Battle of the Chefs: Bathhouse’s Dugi ‘Duganaught’ Anderson won against Sombreros Mexican Cantina’s Drew ‘Hot Jalapeno‘ Harmer
• Mr Golf vs Mr Wine: golf enthusiast Ben ‘Bandy The Basher‘ O’Malley from Millbrook Resort and wine buff Tom ‘Tommy Tiger‘ Macaulay from Amisfield Winery drew

• Big Bets vs Bungy Cords: new recruit Justine ‘Quick Draw’ McCall from SKYCITY Casino lost against AJ Hackett Bungy’s Vicki ‘Pow Pow’ Zadrozny

• Battle of the Media: Richard ‘Ginga Stinger‘ Thomas from Mountain Scene newspaper won against local Radioworks boss Tim ‘The Rock’ Lockhart

• Celebrity Bout: Tawera ‘The Matahuru Mauler’ Nikau won against Russell ‘The Hitman’ Harrison

• Blue collar vs White Collar: ANZ Bank’s Elliot ‘The Money Shot‘ Daniel lost against Stewart Motors mechanic Luke ‘The Smasher’ Smeets
• Battle of the Bars: longtime Chico’s owner Grant ‘The Brain Eraser‘ Murphy lost against Revolver’s Jono ‘The Stampeding Southpaw‘ Stapleton
• Battle of Real Estate: Harcourts’ Richie ‘The Assassin‘ Anderson won against Albert ‘The Velvet Sledgehammer‘ Voschezang from Bayleys
• Trade off: local sparky Lee ‘Lights Out‘ Exell lost against stonemason Scott ‘The Golden Bear‘ Winter

The Winter Festival will be running until 4 July, and there are still plenty of events to attend, such as the annual street party, drag racing, dodge ball, on-mountain action and the Lindauer Jazz Night.