Kitione Lave

Kitione Takitau Lavemai (16 April 1934 – 2 June 2006), who fought under the name Kitione Lave, was a Tongan heavyweight boxer from the island of Hunga, Vava'u and Kotu, Ha'apai. At the age of 18 he became the South Pacific heavyweight champion and in 1956 he, unsuccessfully, challenged Joe Bygraves for the vacant Commonwealth title. A heavy hitting fighter, with the vast majority of his victories ending in knockouts, he was known as The Tongan Torpedo. After retiring from boxing he had a brief career as a professional wrestler.

Lave was born in the island of Hunga, Vava'u, Tonga in 1934. In 1953 he travelled to New Zealand and set himself up in Auckland. As well as fighting professionally, Lave also found work as a gardener at the Auckland residence of Queen Sālote Tupou III. In 1955 his boxing took him to Great Britain, where he met school teacher Patricia Gee. The two were married in 1957 and they had one daughter, also Patricia. While in Britain Lave joined the Royal Air Force, and served for some time in Singapore. After retiring from boxing, whilst in Britain and Singapore, he took up professional wrestling. Once he had completed his time with the RAF, Lave became a successful nightclub owner running an establishment in Sheffield. He and Patricia moved to New Zealand in 1971 where he attempted to run a casino, but with little success. Lave died after a long illness at a rest home in Beach Haven in 2006.