Jailbird Peau likely to be deported Down Under

STEVE KILGALLON
Last updated 05:00 21/09/2014

GETTY IMAGES
GLORY DAYS: James ‘‘Jimmy Thunder’’ Peau.

A Kiwi boxing legend who once set a world record for the fastest knockout but is now languishing in a United States prison is likely to be deported to New Zealand on his release next month.

But James "Jimmy Thunder" Peau's common-law wife says he doesn't want to return to New Zealand and she also fears the 48-year-old will not be accepted into Australia because he has a felony conviction.

Peau, a 1986 Commonwealth Games gold medallist, is 25 months into a one-to-four-year sentence for assault, battery and substantial bodily harm after an altercation at a Las Vegas street party.

Iris Whitemagpie Peau told the Sunday Star-Times she expects her husband to be released from the Southern Desert Correctional Centre, north of Las Vegas, to US Immigration next month, before his case is considered by an Immigration Court.

She says Peau was charged following an incident in which a man had bumped them on a crowded street, causing her to fall and spill her drink and provoking a fight with Peau. Peau then escaped on foot, but was tasered by police, who released the other man.

"The problem for James is he keeps taking plea bargains and you lose all rights - we had witnesses [to support him] but unfortunately we couldn't afford a private attorney and had to go with a state-hired one," Iris said. "James has memory issues [caused by his boxing career] and I keep telling him to plead not guilty, but he thinks if he takes a plea bargain he will be out of jail faster."

The jail sentence should mean Peau, who already had immigration issues, will be deported. He was held by US immigration authorities three years ago until Iris paid a bond for his release after it was discovered he did not hold a US green card.

It is hoped the bond will persuade a judge to give Peau 120 days to leave voluntarily with the hope of being able to return in five years, but she admits neither can afford the plane fare to New Zealand.

Iris said three of Peau's four siblings and one of his three children were in Australia, and he didn't want to go to New Zealand.

Fairfax NZ revealed in 2010 Peau had lived rough for a time after his retirement and had approached boxing figures in Las Vegas for financial handouts.

His fortunes improved on meeting Iris in 2008, and they married in a non-legal Native American ceremony in 2009.

Boxing historian Dave Cameron says Peau was "huge at one stage" and the biggest name of his generation before David Tua arrived.

"He had a real punch. And he was a really friendly guy."

Peau's 49-fight professional career ended in 2002. He lost a WBF world title fight to Englishman Johnny Nelson in Auckland in 1993, then fought mainly in America, winning regional belts and the IBF world title. He famously knocked out Crawford Grimsley in 13 seconds with a single punch.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crim...ted-Down-Under