Amateur career
Mailata participated at the Papatoetoe Boxing Club of Grant Arkell, and fought fellow countryman Joseph Parker twice at the start of his amateur career.[4] At an early age he became a three-time New Zealand amateur heavyweight champion in 2012, 2013, and 2014, as well as winning several amateur tournaments. Mailata competed throughout Auckland and fought at the AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships at Armenia in 2012 but was disqualified for putting his head lower than his Cuban opponent's belt.[5]
At 18-years-of-age Mailata competed in Guiyang at the China Open boxing event.[6] He was awarded a bronze medal after losing to local Chinese fighter Yusufu Akepaer in the semi-final. After winning national tournaments, Mailata received financial backing from a promotional company, Duco Events.[7] It saw him contest in international competitions such as the Gee Bee Tournament in Finland and the 52nd Winner Tournament in Serbia where he respectively won a bronze and gold medal.[5] He also became a participant at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games.[5] The following year, Mailata suffered a loss to Australian Joe Goodall in the Oceanian Championships super-heavyweight gold medal final.[8] His second placed finish saw him as one of four New Zealanders that qualified for the AIBA World Boxing Championships in Qatar.[9] He lost his first round matchup against Rafael Lima of Brazil.[10]
In 2016 Mailata missed out on qualifying for the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics after losing to Kazakhstan's Ivan Dychko at the Asia and Oceania Qualification Tournament.[11] He then fell short in a repeat loss to Joe Goodwall at the 2017 Oceanian Championships, winning a second silver medal.[12] Mailata had his first chance to compete at a semi-professional level after being drafted by the World Series of Boxing franchise, British Lionhearts.[13] In the first leg, he narrowly lost to France Fighting Roosters competitor, Jonathan Nacto at the Salle Wagram.[14] Mailata ended his second leg match with a third round stoppage over Nursultan Amanzhilov of the Astana Arlans.[15] He had his second successive win after an abandoned decision in round four against Marijan Brnic.[16]
Team Combat League
On May 23, 2024, for the Team Combat League boxing organization, Mailata knocked out former National Football League player and former UFC heavyweight Greg Hardy.[17] Mailata is currently on the Las Vegas Hustle team and has not lost a round with the team as of May 2024.[18]
