{"id":6400,"date":"2025-07-19T17:29:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-19T17:29:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/6400\/"},"modified":"2025-07-19T17:29:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-19T17:29:10","slug":"maama-ghee-how-i-went-from-crime-and-prison-to-a-new-life-and-the-boxing-ring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/6400\/","title":{"rendered":"Maama Ghee: How I went from crime and prison to a new life and the boxing ring"},"content":{"rendered":"

She now trains at the gym four days a week for two hours a session – and is about to compete in a boxing charity match for a cause dear to her heart, under her boxing name Maama Ghee.<\/p>\n

She did it for her three kids – aged 15, 13 and 3. \u201cI\u2019m so proud of myself\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

These days, Maama Ghee gets around 7.6 million views a month on her Facebook Page, and 2.6 million likes per month on her Tik Tok. She posts material about her workouts, and her life.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to set an example for those who lack confidence and find it hard to step out of their comfort zones,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.<\/a>\"KimiKimi Parata working out at the gym as she prepares for her corporate boxing match.<\/p>\n

Parata (Ng\u0101ti Maniapoto, Ng\u0101ti Paoa) has dropped 40kg and bulked up for a corporate fight night in Pakuranga on August 30 in an effort to raise suicide awareness.<\/p>\n

She will fight Memz at the Ben Lamond Centre, someone she has never boxed against before. \u201cAll I know is Memz follows me on Facebook,\u201d Parata said.<\/p>\n

Social media influencer CWK Nix is her cousin and will be in her corner on fight night, she said.<\/p>\n

Parata hopes to raise awareness of suicide. \u201cI lost an ex-partner to suicide, and also family members, so it\u2019s close to my heart.<\/p>\n

\"KimiKimi Putere Parata is preparing to fight Memz, who she has never boxed against before, in an August match.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last I heard from [my ex] was when she was released from prison in 2023 and she passed away that same year. I used emotions I felt and put it into fitness, and I know she is proud of me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The organiser of her upcoming fight is one of Parata\u2019s 70,000 Facebook followers, Junior Pati AKA Pitbull – a former champion boxer who runs promotional companies Pitbull Showdown and King of the South.<\/p>\n

A tough start in life<\/p>\n

Parata told the Herald she\u2019s motivated by her dysfunctional upbringing, which included abuse, loss, boarding schools and state care. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was nine, I was hanging with street kids in the hood stealing and drinking, smoking weed,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was taken off my mother at ten, my father died when I was 11.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was in and out of juvenile prisons, Kingslea and Rolleston in Christchurch and I went through sexual abuse and rape throughout my life as a child.<\/p>\n

AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.<\/a>\"KimiKimi Putere Parata.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was the youngest on the streets as a prostitute on Manchester St when I was 12ish.\u201d<\/p>\n

Between 2015 and 2021 Parata served prison time for aggravated robbery, kidnapping and causing grievous bodily harm, she said. <\/p>\n

She told the Herald she hasn\u2019t offended since 2021. <\/p>\n

Parata sees herself as a role model<\/p>\n

\u201cMy goal is to just step in the ring and fight for light, fight for right, fight for our people and of course growth and healing within my own journey.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope what I share helps our people across the globe … I\u2019m not perfect but I am on an amazing path to being my best self and do believe I can help others stuck in darkness or [who] may need to hear what I may share.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI will continue my fitness journey and boxing\u201d<\/p>\n

AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.<\/a><\/p>\n

She also wants to become a personal trainer for those who struggle to get out of the house and into a gym.<\/p>\n

\"KimiKimi Parata is on the undercard of this boxing event on August 30.<\/p>\n

And her dream is to start her own brand of clothing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m starting back up with my own merchandise brand Mamagheeghee clothing and also my own fitness logo DMC which means dedication motivational change. Which I created after I gave up meth,\u201d Parata said.<\/p>\n

\"MamagheeMamaghee The Motivator is taking on Memz in a charity boxing fundraiser.<\/p>\n

Parata is fighting Memz on the undercard at the Ben Lamond Centre in Pakuranga on August 30.<\/p>\n

Joseph Los\u2019e is an award winning journalist and joined NZME in 2022 as Kaupapa M\u0101ori Editor. Los\u2019e was a chief reporter, news director at the Sunday News newspaper covering crime, justice and sport. He was also editor of the NZ Truth and prior to joining NZME worked for urban M\u0101ori organisation Wh\u0101nau Waipareira.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"She now trains at the gym four days a week for two hours a session – and is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6401,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[8291,8288,8290,617,64,63,802,48,1295,5587,8277,8278,8282,8292,8280,8276,8287,3127,8284,5220,8283,8286,2975,4215,8285,85,8293,320,319,8289,8279,8281,1547],"class_list":["post-6400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-190kg","tag-8288","tag-90kg","tag-and","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boxing","tag-crime","tag-food","tag-from","tag-ghee","tag-how","tag-kimi","tag-less","tag-life","tag-maama","tag-methamphetamine","tag-new","tag-parata","tag-prison","tag-putere","tag-quit","tag-ring","tag-says","tag-sick","tag-sports","tag-than","tag-the","tag-to","tag-turned","tag-went","tag-when","tag-year"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6400\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}