There wasn’t a lot of action Down Under last night, but there were two important bouts, one each in New South Wales and Victoria.
Cruiserweight Lawrence Tauasa retained his IBF Australasian belt, needing only two rounds to bring the challenge of opponent Eduardo Jesus Oscar Rojas to a halt at the RSL Club in the Sydney suburb of Rooty Hill.
The 5 foot 9 inch tall Samoan Tauasa outweighted the Argentine import by nearly 4.5 kg and went through his journeyman challenger without much difficulty before producing a stoppage at 1:05 of the second frame.
Tauasa improves to 29-5-1 (16) and the former Australian Cruiser Champ has now won three bouts in a row at 91 kg following his three year stint as a heavyweight.
Rojas, 12-13-7 (6), had turned pro as a welterweight and the well-traveled 30 year old Buenos Aires man has faced such luminaries as Frederic Klose, Walter Dario Matthysse and Daniel Bruwer during his nine year career. More…
Friday night Down Under saw two important contests, the first of which took place at the Croatian Club in the Sydney suburb of Punchbowl and featured IBO Welterweight Champion Isaac “The Angel” Hlatswayo defeat challenger Robert Medley for the second time in less than six months.
The pair fought their initial bout last October In Penrith and Hlatswayo put on a clinic, dropping the previously unbeaten former Australian Light Middle titlist in the fifth before coasting to a wide points verdict, retaining the IBO belt for the first time.
This time the action was only slightly more competitive as the six foot tall Medley seemed to have improved but still was unable to solve Hlatswayo’s edge in speed and aggression, despite a four inch height advantage.
Medley hit the canvas in the very first frame but battled back to impose his will at times afterward. The champion however, would not be denied and from the midway point on, Hlatswayo put the pedal to the metal and raked Medley with combinations, forcing a stoppage at 1:49 of the tenth frame. More…
Last night at The Enterainment Centre in Sydney, Australia, WBA Super Middleweight Champ Anthony Mundine was pushed very hard in a twelve round title defense by former Australian, IBF Pan Pacific and OPBF Light Middle titlist Nader Hamdan before pulling out the unanimous decision win.
Hamdan, 40-6 (18), spent the early part of the bout attacking Mundine’s body and the champion made the challenger pay for the transgressions with sharp counter shots on the inside but that seemed to have very little effect on Hamdan.
As the contest wore on, Hamdan forced Mundine into countless pitched battles that saw both men dealing out and absorbing punishment along the ropes and the center of the ring.
The challenger relentlessly pursued Mundine but with perhaps the fastest hands in the division, “The Man” began to pull clear and win rounds as he beat Hamdan to the punch on most of the exchanges. More…
We start this week’s Saturday night round-up at the Brandberge Arena in Halle an der Saale, Germany where European Light Heavyweight Champion Thomas Ulrich was shockingly knocked out by Ukrainian southpaw Yuri Barashian in the eighth round.
Barashian, 25-3 (17), had been fed a steady diet of largely record building opposition since losing an IBF Youth Light Heavy title contest to future world super middle title challenger Robert Stieglitz in 2003 and was not expected to defeat Ulrich.
Ulrich, 31-4 (21), was making the second defense of his third reign as European Champion and had twice challenged unsuccessfully for world titles, losing by decision to WBO boss Zsolt Erdei in 2006 and getting stopped by WBC titlist Tomasz Adamek in 2005.
But the German light heavy couldn’t seem to fins the target against Barashian and the Russian body puncher hurt Ulrich in the middle rounds, canvassing the European titlist three times in the seventh before finishing the job in the eighth with a spearing left hook to the liver.
The undercard presented several big names on the Continent with southpaw cruiserweight slugger Alexander Alexeev, 14-0 (13), forcing a third round referee stoppage on American ex-heavyweight Talmadge Griffis, 24-8-3 (16), in defense of the WBO Intercontinental belt, while super middle prospect Dimitri Sartison, 22-0 (14), finished off Argentina’s Pablo Daniel Zamora Nievas, 19-3-1 (13), in eight and former European light middle title challenger Lukas Konecny, 36-2 (18), stayed busy with a second round knockout of Belgium based Zaire man Kimfuta Makussu, 10-12 (3). More…
Last night at the Istora Bung Karno Arena in Jakarta, Indonesia, WBA Featherweight Champion Chris John kept his title when Panama’s Roinet Caballero could not answer the bell for the eighth round. Afterward, John resumed his campaign to lure Manny Pacquiao into the ring.
Round one: John coming forward behind the jab, but Caballero moving well and is successful with left hands to the body and counter rights to the head. Near the end of the frame, Caballero lands a stiff right hand and John tries to step up the pace, cornering Caballero but unable to do much before the bell sounds.
Round two: John very active behind the jab but Caballero fighting him back with aggressive counters and body shots. John finally strikes the target with a sharp jab, right hand combination. Caballero tries to hold John back with counters but the champion starts to time his shots well, winning a quick exchange on the inside and causing the Panamanian to fall back.
The skirmishes continue to mount as John times a right over a missed Caballero jab. Caballero looks to maintain distance as the pair trade left hooks. John keeps pressing the action and lunges inside with a body, head, body combination. Caballero lands a right hand over top a John jab and the challenger begins to come forward, enjoying some success to the body but eating some leather in the process. The end of the second devolves into a brawl with many missed wild punches until John nails Caballero with a stiff jab at the bell.
Round three: Caballero holds the center of the ring by circling the champion but is slowly forced back and after missing a big shot is countered with three quick left hands to the body and head. Caballero fights back with a two handed flurry to the body but is soon forced back again when John finds range with the jab. More…
There were two good cards Down Under last night with bills in suburbs of both Sydney and Melbourne, featuring and IBO championship fight and two Australian title bouts.
At the Auburn RSL Club in Auburn, NSW, ex-IBF/IBO Flyweight Champion Vic Darchinyan returned to the ring for the first time since suffering a shocking knockout loss to heavy underdog Nonito Donaire in July and captured the IBO Super Flyweight title in the process.
Darchinyan, 29-1 (23), was made to work by opponent Federico Catubay, 20-14-3 (11), a former Filipino Flyweight titlist. Catubay didn’t have the skills to match the former world champion punch for punch but made up for it through sheer toughness and an iron chin.
The power of Darchinyan began to tell as early as the seventh when he dropped Catubay for an eight count. The Filipino made it back up and got his second wind but the harsh head and body attack from Darchinyan produced another knockdown in the eleventh frame. More…
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. More…
Last night at the Panthers Club in the Sydney, Australia suburb of Penrith, IBO Welterweight kingpin Isaac Hlatschwayo, 27-1 (9), retained his title for the first time with a dominant twelve round unanimous decision over previously undefeated Oakdale man Robert Medley, 18-1 (12).
Hlatschwayo, of Soweto, a former longtime South African and IBO Lightweight Champion, failed last year in a bid to defeat American Kendall Holt for the WBO NABO Light Welter title but has hit his stride again in the 147 lb class.
Full report to follow in a weekend Aussie roundup.
It was an eventful Friday night in the Sydney area boxing scene with light middle Daniel “The Rock” Dawson and cruiserweight Daniel Ammann bringing home the victories on two seperate fight cards.
At the Croatian Club in Sydney, Dawson, 29-0 (20), retained his PABA title with a devastating first round KO over Sydney based Russian southpaw Anton Solopov, 16-2-1 (12).
The Kostya Tszyu managed Solopov never had a chance as the Perth based Dawson unloaded a perfect right hand that had Solopov on the floor and unable to continue at 1:45 of the first round.
Dawson’s win comes in the backyard of fellow unbeaten light middle prospect Daniel Geale, 16-0 (11), of Sydney and the two could be heading for a big domestic showdown should Geale win his upcoming bout in October. More…
It was a good evening of boxing in two Australian locations last night as a reigning domestic champion kept his belt and two former world title challengers stayed busy as they kept hopes alive for a return to the top level.
At the RSL Club in Southport on the Gold Coast, Les Sherrington, 17-4 (10), of Broadbeach, retained his Australian Super Middle crown with a ten round unanimous decision over 38 year old transplanted Irishman Sean “KO Clover” Connell, 10-11-2 (4), of Melbourne.
25 year old Sherrington could be headed into a clash with former OPBF titlist Dale Westerman or Nadar Hamdan, who is scheduled to face Mads Larsen next weekend in Germany. More…
Last night at the Convention Centre in Townsville, Queensland, Australian Super Middleweight Champion Les Sherrington ruthlessly gunned down challenger Shaun Quagliotto in the first round.
The crowd was split between supporters of both local men and the action got off to a bang when Sherrington rocked his rival with a stiff jab. The 25 year old southpaw went straight to work, battering his foe with both hands until Quagliotto was floored heavily.
Quagliotto beat the referee’s count but a full blooded right hook returned him to the canvas and Sherrington was declared the winner at 1:19 of the first round. More…
One of the world’s top minimumweight fighters was in the ring earlier today in Yokohama, Japan as Tokyo’s Eagle Kyowa retained his WBC crown for the fourth time of his second reign with a wide points decision over local prospect Akira Yaegashi, 119-107 (twice) and 118-108.
Despite having very little professional experience, the heavy handed Yaegashi, 6-1 (5), came into the bout as the reigning OPBF titlist but the 24 year old was, not surprisingly, heavily outboxed by the much more experienced Kyowa, 18-1 (6), who had previously defeated such top men as Jose Antonio Aquirre, Rodel Mayol, Katsunari Takayama, Noel Tunacao and Lorenzo Trejo.
On Sunday in Kobe, former Japanese Super Bantam titlist Kyohei Tamakos, 18-5-5 (8), failed in his bid to unseat the far more seasoned Thai southpaw and OPBF Champion Wethya Sakmuangklang, 72-4 (43), losing by scores of 116-112 and 115-113 twice.
Sakmuangklang has been on a tremendous run of 31 consecutive victories and has not tasted defeat since getting stopped in the sixth by the then WBC International Super Bantam Champ Manny Pacquiao in 2001. More…
There are some big fights coming up Down Under but first we take a look at a fight card that took place this past Friday night at the Knox Netball Centre in Ferntree Gully, Melbourne.
Former Commonwealth and Nigerian Welterweight Champion Fatai “Kid Dynamite” Onikeke, who now resides in Blackburn, won his third straight bout with a sixth round KO of Thai veteran Kongthawat Sorkitti, 33-30-1 (21), to take the vacant IBF Pan Pacific Light Welterweight title.
With the victory, Onikeke, 21-2 (18), jumps up the IBF rankings and may be headed for a clash with that organization’s #5 ranked Naoufel Ben Rabah, who is coming off losses in two straight IBF title fights.
Also in Ferntree, Eddie “Psycho” Delic, 12-7-2 (2), retained his Australian Welter crown by outpointing ex- Queensland titlist Paul “Tornado” Tapley, 11-10-1 (4), in a rematch. More…
Last night at Lords Sports Club in Perth, Australia, light middleweight Daniel Dawson regained the PABA Light Middleweight title with a stirring fifth round knockout of visitor Lee Oti.
“The Rock” solidified his postition as one of the top men in Oz at 69.9 kg (154 lb) with the pounding of hard punching Oti, 7-6 (5), who had never been stopped previously.
The result bodes well for Dawson, 28-0 (19), as Oti had dropped top domestic man Daniel Geale in a losing effort for the IBF Pan Pacific/OPBF titles in February. More…
