| Monty Betham | |
| Fullname: | [1] |
| Retired: | yes |
| Birth Date: | 12 March 1978 |
| Birth Place: | Auckland, New Zealand |
| Height: | 183cm (72inches) |
| Weight: | 94kg (207lb) |
| Club1: | NZ Warriors |
| Year1start: | 1999 |
| Year1end: | 05 |
| Appearances1: | 101 |
| Tries1: | 10 |
| Goals1: | 0 |
| Fieldgoals1: | 0 |
| Points1: | 40 |
| Year2start: | 2006 |
| Appearances2: | 26 |
| Tries2: | 2 |
| Goals2: | 0 |
| Fieldgoals2: | 0 |
| Points2: | 8 |
| Teama: | Samoa |
| Yearastart: | 2000 |
| Appearancesa: | 4 |
| Triesa: | 1 |
| Goalsa: | 0 |
| Fieldgoalsa: | 0 |
| Pointsa: | 4 |
| Teamb: | New Zealand |
| Yearbstart: | 2001 |
| Yearbend: | 06 |
| Appearancesb: | 9 |
| Triesb: | 1 |
| Goalsb: | 0 |
| Fieldgoalsb: | 0 |
| Pointsb: | 4 |
| Source: | [2] |
La’auli Montgomery Junior "Monty" Betham (born 12 March 1978) is a professional boxer, and former professional rugby league footballer. A New Zealand international representative and, he played club football for the New Zealand Warriors in the National Rugby League, and for the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats (captain) in the Super League.
Betham was born in Auckland, New Zealand, on 12 March 1978. His father, Samoan-born Monty Betham Sr., had 53 professional fights as a middleweight or light heavyweight from 1973-1982.
Betham was a Bay Roskill Vikings junior, he was selected to play for Samoa at the 2000 World Cup.[3] Betham went on to change his international allegiance and represent New Zealand in eight tests His position of choice was at but he also played at and .[4] 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 and the 2002 NRL Grand Final due to injury. Betham's final game for the club was a 22-20 victory over Manly at Brookvale Oval in round 25 of the 2005 NRL season. Betham spent one year in England with Wakefield Trinity during the 2006 Super League season.[5]
In December 2006, Betham announced his retirement from rugby league in order to pursue a career in boxing. Betham will start out in the cruiserweight division and hopes to work his way down to light heavyweight.
His first fight took place in Samoa on 31 March 2007. He defeated 15 fight veteran Vai Toevai in the sixth round.[6]
In 2013, an episode of The X Factor (New Zealand series 1) was filmed at Boxing Alley gym featuring Monty Betham and contestant Whenua Patuwai.
As well as being a professional boxer, he also trained Daniella Smith who went on to become IBF World Champion.[7]
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="8"|8 Wins (5 knockouts, 3 decisions), 1 Losses, 0 Draws|- style="text-align:center; background:#e3e3e3;"| style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Res.| style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Record| style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Opponent| style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Type| style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Rd., Time| style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Date| style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Location| style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Notes|- align=center|Win|8–1|align=left|
James Langton||||align=left||align=left||- align=center|Win|7–1|align=left|
Adam Hollioake||||align=left||align=left||- align=center |Win|6–1|align=left| Carlos Spencer||||align=left||align=left||- align=center|Loss|5–1|align=left| Shane Cameron||||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||}
Regional/International Titles:
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.[8] 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).
In December 2007 it was announced that Betham would compete in season 4 of Dancing with the Stars which started in February 2008.[9] [10] On January 28, 2008 it was revealed on The Edge (radio station) that Betham's professional dance partner would be Nerida Jantti (girlfriend of Shane Cortese). On April 15, 2008 he was named runner-up (Temepara George being the overall winner).
In October 2012 Betham became one of the inaugural TV presenters on The Shopping Channel (New Zealand), New Zealand's first and only home shopping channel.[11]
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".[12]
After returning home from competing on Treasure Island, Betham and his wife Jaymie celebrated the birth of their first child, a son.[13] Betham's wife is currently expecting their second child.