A huge night of both professional and amateur boxing has been set to explode Friday the 22nd of February. An international night of boxing will start what is expected to be a busy year for the sport on the Central Coast. Headlining the night is the rejuvenated Brendan “The Bomber” Batty who will be the main event fighter for the very first time. The Bomber is now undefeated in his last five fights and has big plans for 2008. His 6 round bout with Jurlan Ceniza was cancelled after the Filipino withdrew and he now faces Thai Ekarat Kiatpaiboon in a tough test. If successful, Batty will challenge for the New South Wales State Title in a Fox Boxing Night in May. He also hopes to challenge for the Australian Title against the Billy Hussein-trained fighter Mohommed Elomar before the end of the year. Since switching trainers Angelo Hyder late in his career, Brendan Batty has a record of 7 wins and just 2 defeats. Both losses occurred when Hyder was away with Danny Green. “He has really improved to the point where he is now a legitimate contender” said Hyder. Also featuring on the card is the undefeated Stevie Wills. Wills takes on the very experienced Jun Paderna over 6 rounds. This is a great opportunity for the Central coast boxing fans to see this future star in action in his hometown. Stevie has fought several times on the under-card to Danny Green in Melbourne and Perth since his last fight on the Central Coast early last year. The Wills brothers are Danny Green’s favourite fighters and he makes sure that they fight on all his fight nights so it is difficult to see them on the Coast. Such is the importance of this fight that brother and training partner Adam has withdrawn himself from the card to concentrate on helping his younger sibling. “I was meant to fight but I didn’t think I could do myself justice because I would be so worried about Stevie’s big fight” Said Adam. In what many have described as a 50-50 fight, or a career-defining fight, Wills and Paderna have similar styles in that they are both strong walk-up fighters and it truly will be a test of will-power. It is touted as an early candidate for the fight of the year. Newcastle’s favourite boxing son Chad “Hollywood” Bennett also fights a 6 rounder against Thailand’s Payakchai Sithparadorn. These two have met previously when the fight was stopped prematurely after a head clash caused a cut to the Novocastrian and it was deemed unsafe to continue. The fight up to that stage was very close and so it would be an understatement to say that these two have some unfinished business to attend to. Experienced boxing commentator and former three-time World Champion Jeff Fenech thought the Thai was coming home the stronger of the two and tips the visitor in the rematch. The fourth professional fight of the night involves Papua New Guinea amateur star Rickson Yamu up against the slick-boxing Sydney-sider John Akuola. Yamu is highly-touted and promoter Angelo Hyder is looking to sign the fighter up and base him on the Central Coast. He is an all-action type fighter in much the same manner as Mike Tyson was. “This will be a very stern test for Yamu” said Hyder. “Akuola outpointed Gosford resident Stewart Edds last December and is planning on surprising the PNG amateur Champion in the same manner.” And in an exciting addition to the card is world-class super middleweight Victor Oganov who takes on Thai Anont Donpradith over 6 rounds. Oganov is coming off a ninth-round knockout loss when he unsuccessfully challenged for the IBO World Title against Columbian Fulgencio Zuniga in September of last year. Up to that point in his career the Ukrainian-born boxer had won all 26 of his fights by way of knockout. The “Crushin’ Russian” had a fight on the Coast several years ago when he stopped former Gosford boxer Paul “The Doctor” Smallman in only two rounds. This guy is one to watch as he hopes to get back into the world title mix again as soon as possible. There will be 7 amateur bouts on the night including Warnervale’s own Michael Perry who is bound for bigger things and already has a loyal fan base. The Bateau Bay PCYC has a host of young fighters competing including Luke Johnson, Lance Davies, Jasper Scannell, Josh Nyland, Luke Phipps and Ben Byfield. In total there will be 12 bouts on the night so it really will be a big night of boxing. Doors open 6.30pm Fights start at 7pm General admission $40 Corporate seats are still available 0416 285 732 Promoters: Angelo 0414 727772 Patrick 0422 589740
