Third fight - Andrew Hunt W10 (UD) Ben Kite - New Australian Welterweight Champ. He's very talented but needs to use his jab more. Give him a decent jab & we've got something. Without it, sorry, he's not quite going to get there. When he's not lighting guys up, it's the jab that's going to win him rounds.
Fourth fight - Ben Mahoney W10 (UD) over Kris George. Inactivity as much as the opponent beat Kris George. George actually dropped Mahoney hard during the fight. He also appeared bigger, stronger & punched harder. Mahoney was sure & steady all the way though & deserved his win on the night. New Australian Junior Middleweight champ.
Main event takes us back to typical Aussie boxing circus fight. Drag a bloke from the car park to be a punching bag.
Fifth & last fight - Justis "Juice on the Loose" Huni stops Jack Maris in the first. No knockdowns but Maris under heavy fire when the ref called it. Maris understandably very disappointed at the stoppage but I agree with the ref putting his health first. I called for his health to be put first above the entertainment of spectators before the fight & I'm glad it was.
Sounded pretty pointless. The rest of card ill have to get to watch. Sounded like it exceeded expectations in terms of matchmaking, even an upset in there.
It was a great night of Australian boxing. Fight of the night was Leti Leti v Conor Wallace. Leti was physically very strong, aggressive & punched hard. I was impressed with Wallace's boxing skills, overall class & his chin in taking some heavy punches without wilting. I think Wallace actually has the greater potential of the two. There's plenty of other good fights out there for him. Hopefully we see him in some of those & then a rematch with Leti once he gets a little more professional experience under his belt. I think he was unlucky not to get the decision but the judges were obviously impressed with the aggression Leti showed. Justis Huni is scheduled to face Christian Tsoye next up & then Big Daddy Browne (if he beats Paul Gallen). Facing established professionals is what we want to see him doing.
An update from NZ, Andrei Mikhailovich remains NZ champion at 154 after a 9th round stoppage win over Shay Brock. A very good performance where Mikhailovich picked him off at range and hurt him to the body throughout the fight to which Brock had no real answer to. Brock has an iron chin it must be said though and is extremely tough, probably too tough for his own good. He probaby could have seen out the distance but the ref rightfully waved it off. Hope to see Mikhailovich fight some Aussie opponents now that a bubble has been created between our countries. Richie Hadlow, Mea Motu, and Jerome Pampellone also had routine early stoppage wins and Pampellone is also scheduled to fight next week. Pampellone beat Paane Haraki over 4 rounds with Haraki managing to see it through to the final bell despite being well beaten. At the same time, he was never really hurt during the fight mainly due to him being a lot bigger than Pampellone.
Top 10 Australian Heavies based on current ability & potential: 1. Justis Huni 3-0 (3) - Juice on the Loose, JPH, the Big Queensland Kahuna! Who says nothing good ever came out of Queensland? 2. Demsey McKean 18-0 (12) - Has worked hard to compile a respectable undefeated record. The tricky bit is going to be who to cash it in against. I hope it's Huni in a big local show. If not Huni, then Joseph Parker. 3. Willis Meehan 11-0 (9) - Fighting & winning regularly is good. Would like to see him in with another name on this list. 4. Joe Goodall 7-0-1 (6) - Would've had him above Willis Meehan except we all know rugby league players are tougher than their Aussie Rules counterparts. 2017 World Amateur Champs medalist & Commonwealth Games silver medalist. 5. Lucas Browne 29-2 (25) - Former WBA (Regular) Heavyweight Champion of the World. 6. Alex Leapai 32-8-4 (26) - Former Lineal & Unified World Heavyweight title challenger. 7. Django Opelu 14-2-1 (10) - Currently sparring with Big Daddy Browne. Not a bad choice & indicates Lucas may be serious for this one. Will need to change my pick if he is. 8. Arsene Fosso 3-1 (3) - 2017 World Amateur Champs medalist. Rocked that big Kazakh southpaw in the semi-final. Hoping Huni can do the same in the Olympics. Currently sparring with Gal. 9. Paul Gallen 10-0-1 (5) - The scourge of all Queenslanders but highly valued on the Stifler's Mum thread for delivering us a Christmas bonus. Is there another one in the offing? 10. Christian Tsoye 5-3-2 (4) - Has never been stopped inside the distance & has faced Joe Goodall twice. Is reportedly next up for Justis Huni. Holds a win against Django & a draw with Goodall.
Charlo-Castano all but signed. What does mean for the Toolman lads? What should his next move be? Also mad respect to Ebanie Bridges for giving it her all and fighting through that bad eye on the weekend. Hopefully someone can front up some cash for our Queen of Aussie Boxing ,Shannon O'Connell, to bring over the new champ and challenge for her title. I think she is a real chance to beat her.
I think that is good news for Tszyu I believe the winner will vacate especially if it is Charlo and Tszyu will be the A side fighting for the vacant WBO belt in Australia. I think that Shotgun would mop the floor with both those girls on the weekend. Neeka Johnson beats them both too IMO.
It means world domination is imminent. It also means that once again, the Stifler's Mum thread is right & the mainstream sports media in this country is wrong. If Small Charlo & Castano are fighting each other in July, they can't very well be travelling out to Australia to collect their $10m for fighting Junior now can they? The tricky bit for Junior is does he fight the winner of Liam Smith v Kurbanov in July or do they hold off & wait for the title to be vacated? You don't want to waste that fight prematurely when you could take it with a world title at stake. I'd be suggesting they fight someone else in July & then hope Charlo beats Castano & that he then departs the division. That clears the decks for Junior v the Liam Smith v Kurbanov winner at the end of the year for the vacant WBO World title. The WBO might even dangle an 'interim' world title for July so they can collect more sanctioning fees. We'll just have to wait & see how things play out. As for the ladies, I didn't watch their fight on the weekend. That eye looked grotesque at the finish & I'm not sure what the sport thinks it's achieving by letting anyone continue fighting with an injury like that. Disgraceful stuff. I'd say the same if it was a men's fight. As for Shotgun O'Connell, I had both Neeka Johnson & Bianca Elmir beating her in recent fights. Neither got the decision.
