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43 Facts About David Letele

1.

David Letele created his own fitness gym with no equipment, giving out free meals for the homeless and runs a foodbank for people in need.

2.

At the age of 16, David Letele was already training with the Maori representative New Zealand team.

3.

However, David Letele was not able to see the field due to shattering his knee in training.

4.

David Letele was signed onto the New Zealand A team, attracting the National Rugby League team the New Zealand Warriors.

5.

David Letele signed on to play for the minor premiership team, North Sydney Bears.

6.

David Letele has played for Cootamundra Bulldogs and AS Carcassonne in France before retiring.

7.

David Letele was an accomplished corporate boxer fighting multiple times on Duco Events' card before turning pro.

8.

David Letele has his nobility as a professional boxer, public figure and has made unique, prolific or innovative contributions to a field of entertainment as he puts on a character when he is in the ring with a mic, in the media or at the weigh in as the Brown Buttabean.

9.

David Letele has received mixed reactions from the media and the general public, calling him Duco's circus act.

10.

David Letele won the title against John Lomu on 16 October 2014.

11.

David Letele lost the first fight but defended his title for the second time against Waikato Rugby Union Prop Loni Uhila on 6 December 2014.

12.

David Letele won by SD event though a lot of people thought Uhila won.

13.

David Letele grabbed Maka on the throat pushing him back, Maka retaliated by tackling him to the ground, however the fight was broken off quickly.

14.

David Letele defended the title for the third time against former Tonga national rugby union team star Finau Maka on 5 March 2015.

15.

David Letele defended his title for the fourth and fifth time by fighting two people on the same night.

16.

David Letele fought the winner of the Christchurch Corporate Boxing Tournament Jae Jae Smith and local Lordly Kaihua.

17.

David Letele defended his title for the sixth and final time on 1 August 2015 against former Southland Rugby Football Union player Kaleni Taetuli.

18.

David Letele lost the bout in 22-second in the first round by TKO.

19.

In 2015, David Letele moved to a new gym and trainer, trained by John Conway.

20.

On 14 October 2015, the day before his second fight against Kaleni Taetuli at the weigh in, David Letele lashed out and tried to attack Taetuli while screaming out "You won the lottery last time".

21.

David Letele defended his regained title against Loni Uhila in a rematch, one year after their first bout.

22.

In January 2016, David Letele fought Silivelio Pekepo aka Batman in Samoa.

23.

David Letele declared the bout to be for the Duco Event's USA Heavyweight title and the Duco Event's Intercontinental Heavyweight title.

24.

In May 2016, David Letele fought in more of a traditional bout then he is usually use to.

25.

David Letele fought Conrad Lam at 4x3 min rounds with no standing 8 counts.

26.

David Letele will be fighting against JaeJae Smith for the second time.

27.

The last the two fought was in Palmerston North back in June 2015, where David Letele fought two people in one night.

28.

David Letele fought Barlow twice in his career, first in Waitara, New Zealand as the main event in October 2016.

29.

In December 2015, David Letele announced his retirement from boxing at the end of 2016.

30.

David Letele planned on opening his own, become a personal trainer and continue his Buttabean Motivation group.

31.

David Letele was a contestant on the 2022 season of the dancing show Dancing with the Stars.

32.

In June 2015, David Letele announced that he had launched a new website to help motivate people on their weight-loss journey.

33.

In November 2017, David Letele received a special honour award at the Pacific People's Award at the Vodafone Events Centre, Manukau City, New Zealand.

34.

David Letele was honoured for his contribution to the community in his battle against obesity in the Pacific community in New Zealand.

35.

In February 2019, David Letele broke the world record for the number of people performing frog squats simultaneously at a boot camp event that he hosted at Eden Park.

36.

On 10 October 2024, David Letele announced that he had decided to shut down the food bank, citing costs, lack of funding and "being mentally taxing" to keep the food bank afloat.

37.

In mid December 2024, David Letele's foodbank was able to continue operating for the Christmas holidays after receiving generous donations from the telecommunications entrepreneur Annette Presley, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and an anonymous wealthy donor.

38.

In January 2022, MediaWorks New Zealand announced that David Letele would join its new current affairs radio station Today FM.

39.

David Letele befriended various figures on both sides of the New Zealand political spectrum in order to support his community outreach.

40.

David Letele considered running standing as the Te Pati Maori candidate in Manurewa but opted not to stand.

41.

David Letele has criticised the National-led government's policies of banning gang patches and making gang membership a factor in determining criminal sentences, stating:.

42.

David Letele became obese while he played professional rugby league in Australia and France.

43.

David Letele took part in a vigil immediately after Collins' unexpected death, and later thanked the efforts of parademics and off-duty police officers to save Collins' life.