Staged at the Queenstown Events Centre last night in front of a capacity crowd of 1300, the Thriller was one of the most anticipated events on the festival's calendar with pride, reputation and jawbones on the line as men and women squared off in 11 matches of three two-minute bouts.
Ringside the atmosphere was charged as TV presenters Clint Brown and Howard Dobson ushered in Coronet Peak head of maintenance Dave "Hurricane Hedgehog" den Hertog who took on Shotover Jet driver Brett "The Jet" Black in the first match to the sound of Survivor's Eye of the Tiger.
At 168cm and weighing 69.4kg, the defensive van Hertog (39) was edged out by 177cm, 72kg Black (38) in a unanimous decision.
In the second round 182cm, 92kg produce manager Jochen "The Judge" Wauters (34) outboxed feisty 182cm, 95kg Queenstown Golf Club food and beverage manager Ben "Prime Time" Kyllonen (35).
Round Three saw 177cm, 80.6kg reporter Ryan "Mean@Scene" Keen (32) best 173cm, 81.3kg plasterer Sean "Sledgehammer" Sutton (30) with some deft footwork - despite the crowd clearly being on Sutton's side throughout the bout.
Money raised from ticket sales and a charity auction goes to the Bruce Grant Youth Trust, which supports youth under 25 in sport, arts and culture endeavours. Organisers were hoping to top the $40,000 raised last year.
