The wife of a man who died after taking part in a charity boxing match says she thinks the practice is abhorrent, and wants to see it stopped.
In November 2018, Kain Parsons, who was 37, took part in a charity boxing event in Christchurch.
He was knocked unconscious during the fight, and rushed to hospital, but never regained consciousness.
His life support was turned off three days later.
Kain Parsons' wife, Alana Parsons, said her husband felt nervous before the match, not because he thought he would be injured, but because he thought he was the underdog and might lose.
She said he was up against a competitor who had previously been a professional rugby player.
Parsons said since her husband's death there had been mention by those connected to the event of Kain's previous martial arts training and kick boxing fights, but she said that was overstated.
She said Kain had not been involved in martial arts since he was 19.
Parsons said her husband had had a number of interruptions to his training, including a head injury while training, a trip to Fiji, and the suicide of a friend shortly before the match.
She said from the start the fight was not going well for her husband.
"Kain looked startled and shocked," she said. "That the fight was not what he was expecting. I remember a woman in the crowd screaming her support for [the other boxer] 'Go at him'. I remember thinking at the time, this is barbaric, and it is meant to be for charity."
Kain was given two standing eight counts before the final knock down, from which he never got up.
Parsons said she had initially been reluctant for him to take part, but he talked her around. She said she did not think he would have taken part if he had known all the risks.
"Every day since Kain died I wished I had done more, questioned more, asked Kain not to participate in the boxing match. Yet I feel other interested parties are not only looking to deflect blame on to others, and to not accept responsibility for the part that they have contributed towards Kain's death."
She said she thought it was abhorrent that charities raised money through the boxing events, and hoped that she could get some change to make sure Kain's death was not for nothing.
On Monday morning members of Kain Parsons' family spoke to the inquest before the formal part of the inquest got underway.
One of those was Kain Parsons' daughter, Millie Parsons, who is now 13.
Through tears she said that her father was kind, and would always help people even without being asked.
Millie Parsons said she wished she could again hear his bad dad jokes, and hug him one more time.
Kain Parsons' mother, Cheryl Gascoigne, said her grief was ongoing and overwhelming, sometimes leaving her feeling she was drowning in it.
She said before the boxing match she had told her son she had a bad feeling about it, and asked him not to take part.
She said she now felt guilty that she did not do more to protect her son.
The organiser of the event, managing director of Team Event, Callum Mitchell, also spoke to the inquest today.
He was questioned over competitors signing a waiver months before the event in which they confirmed they had done sufficient training and had no medical issues.
Mitchell agreed it would be preferable if the waiver was signed closer to the actual fight.
Mitchell told the inquest that competitors were selected by himself and the previous organiser of the event Justin Wallace.
Team Event had purchased the model for the event off Wallace in 2017, but he was working with them to run the event.
Mitchell told the inquest that Wallace was the one to make the final call on matchup of fighters.
Justin Wallace also spoke to the inquest and said that he was offering advice on matchups, but the final decision was up to Callum Mitchell.
Wallace said that Kain Parson's opponent had expressed concerns about his opponent, but Parsons had not. He said he still thought Kain Parsons' matchup was a good one.
