Australian Boxing/SM Memorial thread

"...but I've never agreed with the Foxtel / Main Event monopoly arrangement b/c all it's done is send half our best talent overseas"
Totally agree with this and the Australian public misses out seeing these guys live.

Will be interesting this year with No Limit and their local ppvs and Timmy fighting overseas.
I dont think Nikita is much a draw, same with Liam W and Sam Goodman, both good fighters, but not ppv draws.

And Justis is fighting on March 8 over in Saudi.

 

Yeah a lot of No Limit’s success was on the back of Paul Gallen as well.

 

Hopefully Stan can make a fist of boxing. The guys in Aus need more exposure not just pigeon holed as underneath the Tszyu boys.
Aukoso needs to keep his momentum & build on it
Thought the rumour was Huni vs Lerema? If so dangerous fight vs a good punching Southpaw
Opetai with the biggest nads in boxing taking on Breidis In short notice for the rematch
Thurman vs Tszyu is a terrible mismatch & will be over in 6.

 

Several months ago, I recall hearing an interview with Ange DiCarlo and they were exploring their options regarding getting their shows on tv.
Havent heard much since

 

Quite off topic ... but I just had a look at Callum Peters' am record and was fascinated at the breadth of venues he's fought at. Wide range across Adelaide, and I lived in Claremont in Perth for sometime so I can sort of visualize the Perth venues [I'm in Canberra for 2 years ATM]. My sister is part of a that almost weekly watches live broadcasts and occasional live boxing, so I'll pass that name onto her.

 

They had an international tournament at the AIS on Australia day featuring members of the Australian, Filipino & Swedish amateur boxing teams. None of the results are on Boxrec. 10 fights with Callum Peters going second last. I'm not the world's greatest expert on amateur boxing but he looks to be our best medal chance among the men. I went along principally to see Teremoana in action. He was there but didn't fight. Looked in great physical condition though. When he began on the national amateur team this time last year he was carrying some excess baggage around the midriff. That's all gone & he was looking quite lean. The Filipinos had some good women's fighters in the lower weight divisions. One of them handled one of our girls very easily. The last fight on the show was in the Heavyweight division where we are yet to qualify anyone for the Olympics. The kid from Melbourne was fortunate to get a split decision over the bloke from Canberra who went to the world championships last year. That means we will try to qualify him for the Olympics during the lead-in tournaments. A lot riding on the outcome of that fight. There's hope for the Kiwis yet b/c presumably they will try to qualify some fighters for the Olympics the same way.

There's a lot of interesting stuff that goes on at the AIS. The hard thing is finding out about it before it happens. The following day (yesterday) that girl from Brisbane broke the Australian 100m record in athletics.

 

Jai Opetaia's fight with Mairis Briedis is back on Boxrec. Thank goodness for that. Gives me a reason to watch now. Two undefeated H/W champs, each with a legitimate claim to the H/W Crown, is an historic matchup. I favour Usyk for the win but then again, I can't pick the outcome of Fury fights so I won't go overboard in backing that opinion. Looking forward to Jai v Briedis most of all. Aussie Dave Nyika yet to be matched up.

 

Charlo spotted in disguise at 4 min 3 seconds in. Man I wanna get that shirt he's wearing.

Tim Tszyu's departing sledge for 'coward' Charlo Aussie heads to America | Fox Sports | Main Event (youtube.com)

 

Sad news that former Tongan heavyweight champ Alipate Liava’a has passed away. While his record wasn’t pretty, he did win his national title and he fought absolutely everyone from these shores. RIP

 

RIP

 

That basically sums up my frustrations…
DiCarlo puts on decent cards and has some worthy tv fighters, few other locals tv worthy…. Local ppv’s bit much to take for me but it is what it is..
Them you have the Kamobsis’s, Maloney brothers, Huni and others basically forced overseas???
Even something local as 7plus has with OneFC at moment…
I feel a lot of worthy local coming thru that could be on a tv platform if available no matter who they signed too, bring local standard up if could have say 25-30 We’d night fights on Fox plus regular bigger No Limit etc shows?
Give fighters career following, at moment best case is step up, fight Nikita on fox/PPV then back to 200 odd ppl at outback or smaller venues, as an example? I do feel we have the room and “LOCAL” quality at moment for streaming, subscription tv and PPV to all co exist and grow each other..
…. Anyone remember the ONEHD tv deal that nearly went thru with Adam Watt years back when OneHD was a sports only network? I’ve always wondered if that would have worked out or not had it gone thru? Think it was ten cards a year on free to air tv.. From memory they did Klistiko vs Briggs n that was it…
… Talking bit of fantasy here, bring back the tv ringside days….
Also, be very interesting where Kambosos vs Loma ends up on Aust tv/streaming?.

 

There's plenty of talent in our divisions. No limit will need to put in the work promoting the next crop. Felt they rushed the end of 2023 but we had a strong of solid cards, classic fights.

 

Have heard some rumours about this

And I believe Kambosos v Loma will be on Main Event/Fox as GK and No Limit have come to an arrangement.
Will know more tomorrow after the presser for the fight over in the Perth

 

Thx for update…
Somethn like 7plus would be amazing and overdue…
And regards to DiCarlo and others, I do like watching the Floyd Masson’s, wont be world champs but great to watch…
I like watching Jazzy Parr (followed all the Parrs and their careers) Sure plenty of great local matchups with some of the opponents on NoLimits shows too…
Again, appreciate the update n hopefully somethn to look fwd too…

 

Alex Leapai Jr is turning pro. I mention it b/c I think the H/W division is the future of Australian boxing. I think we're ready to rule the world in that division. Leapai Jr was a very talented junior rugby league player & there were a lot of clubs chasing his signature only last year if I recall correctly. He's only 18. He signed with his local team, the Gold Coast Titans, but has obviously had a change of heart & decided to pursue a professional boxing career. I wonder who will be training him? Possibly Noel Thornberry who also looks after Aussie Dave Nyika. Those are two guys who ought to be on TV every time they fight. A recent Olympic medalist who has the talent to make waves as a professional & an 18-year old who has probably had the boxing gloves on all his life & in terms of athletic ability was chased hard by every NRL club with a clue (apparently the Wests Tigers weren't interested).

Top tier Australian Heavyweights currently - Jai Opetaia & Justis Huni. One is ready for a title shot right now. The other will be after another 4-6 fights if he keeps winning.

Second tier - Teremoana Jr (our Olympic Super Heavy rep who pole-axed every opponent he faced at the Pacific Games to quality for the Olympics) & Toese Vousiutu (terrific natural physical strength & punching power with an aggressive viewer-friendly fighting style).

Third tier - Joe Goodall & Demsey McKean, both of whom have enjoyed some success on the international stage against decent opposition.

Prospect capable of joining them - Alex Leapai Jr. A welcome addition to the local landscape. Hopefully we get the opportunity to follow his career on TV right from the start. That's what I like doing.

Leapai Jr as a 16 year-old up against a 20 year-old:

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