Boxing News Boxing News
Friday night saw three good cards across Oz, with visitor Isaac Hlatshwayo emerging as the big winner.
The 30 year old world class South African traveled to the Panthers Club in Penrith in order to place his IBO Welterweight crown at risk against local hero Robert Medley.
Medley went into the fight with 18 wins against no losses and as a former Australian Light Middle titlist who had gone down a division to pick up the IBF Australasian/IBO Asia Pacific titles.
But wins earlier this year against Kaiser Mabuza and Somchai Nakbalee didn’t prepare him for the highly polished skills possessed by Hlatshwayo, a fighter with wins at lightweight over Cassius Baloyi, Nate Campbell, Aldo Rios and Phillip N’dou.
As a natural light middle holding a four inch height advantage, Medley had hoped to impose his will over the smaller South African but it wasn’t enough.
Hlatshwayo took away Medley’s confidence early on in the bout by putting the Oakdale man on his heels, working behind a stiff jab that set up precision combinations.
Medley, 18-1 (12), was never able to get his own offense untracked and was canvassed in the fifth round before being largely outclassed over the rest of the twelve round contest, which Hlatshwayo, 27-1 (9), was awarded by unanimous decision 119-109 and 118-109 (twice).
The undercard featured WBF Asia Pacific titlist Frank LoPorto, 6-2-1 (3), crushing the more experienced Garry Comer, 18-8-1 (7), in a single round to annex the vacant Australian Light Middle crown.
One of Oz’s top middleweights was also on the bill, as IBF Pan Pacific/IBO Inter-Continental titlist Daniel Geale, 17-0 (12), stayed busy with a second round KO of Kiwi journeyman Lee Oti, 9-7 (5), in a non-title contest.
Promising South African lightweight Mlungisi “The Killer Shark” Dlamini improved to 16-0-1 (10) by putting in eight rounds of work against durable Sydney based Filipino Robert Oyan, 18-30-4 (6), in a competitive contest.
Heavyweight Pat Kennedy, 15-3 (7), emerged as a winner via majority decision after going eight hard fought rounds with Brett Smith, 12-5-2 (6).
At the Knox Netball Centre in the Melbourne suburb of Ferntree Gully, Thailand’s former PABA Lightweight titlist Somchain Nakbalee, 10-3-1 (3), came off three straight losses to shock Blackburn based Nigerian Fatai “Kid Dynamite” Onikeke, 22-3 (19), by decision over twelve rounds.
Onikeke’s IBF Pan Pacific Light Welter belt was not as risk as Nakbalee came in three pounds over the light welter weight limit but the Thai fighter thoroughly outclassed the champion to win by scores of 120-108 (twice) and 119-111.
Nakabalee is next scheduled to fight for another IBF Pan Pacific title, dropping back down to lightweight to face reigning champion Ranee Ganoy, whom incidentally Nakabalee defeated in his pro debut in 2004, on November 30 in Brisbane.
In other action, Lawrence Tauasa, 27-5-1 (14), defeated veteran campaigner Jamie Wallace, 21-29 (5), for the third time in a battle of former Aussie cruiserweight champions, to cage the vacant IBF Australasian cruiser crown via fourth round stoppage.
19 year old welter Heath “The Heat” Ellis, 7-0 (4), stayed on track by stopping hard luck Adelaide man James Swan, 3-10-4 (0), in the first round to capture the vacant Victoria State title.
Also claiming victory were bantamweight Daniel Iannazo, welter Oyewale Omotoso, super middle Paul Bourke while welters Steve Attard and Matt Williams fought to a draw.
At the Belmont Civic Centre in Geelong, local man Kane McKay, 7-2-1 (4), was gunned down in the second by a Keith Ellis trained fighter, Melbourne’s Wayne Parker, 7-1 (2), who won the vacant OPBF Super Middle belt in the process.
