Boxing In Australia: Pittman, Oganov, Ellis Knocked Out In Upsets

There were a few surprises in the ring this past week as several big names suffered unexpected losses.

The biggest shocker occurred when former world middleweight title challenger Jamie Pittman was dramatically sent down and out by hard-fisted Ghana born Joseph Kwadjo at Le Montage in Lilyfield on Thursday.

At stake was the vacant IBF Australasian belt and experienced southpaw Pittman made the willful Kwadjo pay dearly over the course of the bout, punishing the younger man for every inch of ground gained.

But Kwadjo’s continued aggression wore down his opponent and in the seventh the Fiji resident got close enough to nail Pittman with a perfect shot, canvassing the Gosford man.

Pittman beat the count but was twice more sent down, causing the bout to be stopped on the three knockdown rule at 2:59 of the seventh.

Kwadjo, 14-1 (10), runs his victory streak to 14 bouts, becoming the IBF Australasian super middleweight champion in the process.

Pittman, 19-2 (8), loses for just the second time in his career and must now rebuild if he is to return to prominence on the domestic scene.

Rising star Michael Bolling, 12-0 (10), retained his Australian super middleweight belt by outpunching former world title contender Victor Oganov, 30-4 (28), in a firefight.

Oganov, who had previously only lost to Andre Dirrell and Fulgencio Zuniga, just didn’t have the defense to avoid the hard shots of Bolling, who forced a stoppage at 2:05 of the eighth frame.

There was another upset on the bill as cruiserweight Dominic Vea, 12-2 (10), was defeated via eight round split decision by Anthony McCracken, 12-4 (4), in a rematch.

Big ticket selling super feather Billy Dib, 26-1 (14), won his fourth bout on the bounce with a sixth round KO of Reynaldo Belandres, 13-2-2 (8), the occasion marking the first time that the Filipino has been stopped.

On Friday at Town Hall in Malvern, Tasmanian slugger Steve Maxwell, 7-3 (5), won his biggest fight to date when he knocked out promising prospect Heath Ellis, 12-2-1 (6), in the fourth of a scheduled 12 rounder.

Welterweight Maxwell annexes two belts, the IBF Pan Pacific and WBC Asian Boxing Council titles, with the victory and could be in line to meet undefeated Blackburn man Wale Osmoto for the top spot.

On the undercard at Town Hall, southpaw Blake Caparello, 4-0 (1), outpointed Joel Casey, 9-7-3 (5), for the Victoria State light heavyweight crown.