Coolongatta, Qld. 27/4/01
Nathan Briggs TKO3 Zane Aiken
Heavyweights
Nthan Briggs extended his unbeaten run to three, all inside the distance with his best performance yet, stopping a vastly more experienced (in the Marquis of Queensbury Rules) foe. Aiken was never in the fight, his eye blew up courtesy of the first right-hand bomb that "Nasty Boy" threw and landed (This was a legacy of an injury suffered in sparring with Rick Thornberry, the week previously (note to self: never get Thornberry to spar my boxer before going into a big match)). Zane did not look like the Bam-Bam of old and was staggered repeatedly through-out the contest, the one department that Zane will never be beaten in is heart and chin, but this could be to his detrement and I think he should evaluate his standing in the heavyweight division. The fight was wisely stopped in the third by ref Brad Vocale when Zane was copping bomb after bomb - well done ref.

Paul Smallman TKO2 Ken Suavine
Catchweights
Once again Ken Suavine quit on his stool for about the third time in a row, much to the displeasure of the capacity crowd, as he seemed to have been in no distress nor non-competitve, an easy win for "The Doctor" to hopefully gain a light-heavyweight ranking by beating a cruiserweight who should not have been paid.

Undercard
In the opener debutant Jason Dolan KO'd Adam King with one left hook in the first. Dale Hawke cost himself a probable victory against Lenny Lawlor, by opening a cut on Lenny Lawlors head with his noggin = TD1. Pauline O'Hello was too fit for Karen Williams, who took the fight on short notice and could not come out for the third and Commonwealth Games gold & silver medallist (In the shotput) Lisa Marie Vizniari boxed an exhibition with talented Bobie Jo Cluer, who gave away a hell of a lot of weight but showed some nice moves. The hall was packed and promoter Jamie Myer managed to raise over $7000 for Ahmad Popals family with an auction

Brisbane, Queensland. 24/04/01
Rick Thornberry TKO5 Jason Rarere (NZ)
International Super-Middleweights
Ricky "The Gatton Tiger" Thornberry was back with a vengence after dominating NZ's Jason Rarere. Jason holds a six-round KO over Timo Masua so he is no mug and certainly came to fight. You would be hard-pressed to have guessed that Thornberry had been out of the ring for two years, so good did he look, but then sparring regularly with Paul Briggs would help keep you sharp! Rick used his well-known body attack to wear down Rarere who looked very good as a super-middle - but there was only going to be one winner as Thornberry just broke down his opponent and was giving him a bit of a touch-up. Referee Wally Lewis did a fantastic job in centre-ring controlling the action well, not letting the Queenslander get away with illegal use of the head warning him in the third that he would not hesitate to take a point. Raere's corner would not let him come out for the 6th which upset Jason more than anyone (apart from some drunken yobs who did not know what they were talking about). This win will give the Gatton Tiger a ANBF ranking in his division of 76.2 kg, where he is rated is up to the ANBF ratings committee, but food for thought is that the current number one is Marc Bargero, a fighter who Thornberry has beaten before for the National crown (W12, 17/12/94)...

Sean Sullivan (NZ) W8 Glen Fitzpatrick
Super-Middleweights

I could not believe my eyes when reading the boardroom to see that Sean Sullivan was fighting two divisions above his usual weight of welter, still apparently this super-tough fighter was killing himself making that weight and will never fight that low again - one thing is for sure, he certainly looks at home at 168! This performance was stunning by SEan, not only did the likable Kiwi take the fight at less than a weeks notice (The original opponent was ruled out with vertigo - dizziness and no balance), he arrived the day after burying his father Gil! Sean was too good in this fight, but it was a fight that "Fitzy" will learn well from. Scores were Steve Scott 59-56, Gary Lawrence 60-55 and Wally Lewis had it 59-56 I saw it 58-56 to the winner in a great scrap which saw a shower from an appreciative crowd. Referee was Chris "The dasher" Daley, who is a ref who can go a long way, and controlled the action very well.

Undercard

Peter Rolph (72.4) hopefully ended the career of Jeff 'Krazy' Kanofski who said "No Mas" in the fourth. Mark Hanson avenged his last loss to Robbie Speghan in a barn-burning light-welter stoush. Gavin Sahlqvist was too strong for John Fallon winning over three twos at middleweight. Credit must go to the Fighters, Ring Officials and the Matchmaker of this show as the big crowd enjoyed a great night of fights with excellent decisions.

Liverpool, England. 24/04/01
Alex Moon W12 Karim Nasher
Commonwealth Super-Featherweight Title

Karim Nasher failed in his bid to beat Defending Champion moon in England, but would not have failed to bring notice to himself, as reports suggest he is still as flamboyant as ever. The harder puncher of the two, Nasher had moments of success, notably in the 3rd and seventh but was unable to answer most of the questions the champ asked him. A creditable performance by the Victorian who has better talent than his record (14-7 (9)) suggests.

Sydney, NSW. 20/04/01.

Steve Douet TKO5 Sam Setu
ANBF Super-Welterweight Title
Quite an upset as the new champion reversed an earlier KO loss. Douet withstood the early pressure and allowed his foe to punch himself out and then take the fight to his exhausted foe.

Nader Hamden KO1 Chalermphol Sakpanya
Super-Welterweights
Yet another poor match-up as Nader continues to build a nice record whilst not risking his IBF ranking. Fights of this calibre have not helped Darren Obah or Rick Thornberry (to name just a couple), when they got to fight the World Champion.

Kali Meehan TKO4 Mosese Kavika
Heavyweights
There can only be George Speight left to fight as "Checkmate" dispatches yet another Fijian visitor; surely he could now claim to be heavyweight champion of Fiji!. Basically Just a ticking over of Kali's engine as he awaits his Commonwealth Title shot.

UNDERCARD
Jason Delisle won a points nod over Kiwi Jeff Tupu over six, Vic Darchinian stopped overmatched Silvio Glinogo in the second (scheduled for 6). In another six-rounder Sakio Bika, a former Cameroon olympian, beat Leo Christou on a first round retirement. In the opener Ian Schaffa stopped Kron Sak Lek in the third

Carrara, QLD. 16/04/01

Kassium Adam W6 Addisu Tebebu
Lightweights

Both fighters served notice to the lightweights in this match-up as both boys brought great skills to the ring, Adam was the better man of the two but Tebebu more than made up for that with courage by rising from the canvas badly hurt to finish the stronger of the two. I had it 58-55 as did Derek Milham, Wally Lewis (NO, not that Wally Lewis!) had it 57-56. There must have been an absolute glamour (for non-aussies that means good-looking woman!) at ringside impairing Brad Vocale's view as the normally stellar offical saw it 58-57 for Tebebu - still I was once told by former OzBoxing editor Phil Austin that you only score the fight as you see from your side of the ring (then again I was bagging him over one of his cards! - any excuse eh Phil?). Both fighters have good futures in the sport to look forward to.
Alex Wymarra W6 Johnny Green
Super-Lightweights
A fight in when the Queenslander (now unjustly 6-9-1 (2)), can say We wuz robbed". Wymarra now 21-7-2 (11) started well and for me was the favourite in this fight, but he did not capitilise on winning the first two rounds and let Green out work him. Johnny was cut by an accidental head clash in the second but it never seemed to bother him (unlike the decision!). Wymarra is certainly not as good as he thinks he is and I don't think Rowsell, Ndou or King Kostya are looking over their shoulders. For the record; scores were: 59-55, 58-57, 59-56 - mine 58-57 for the loser. Ref was Wally Lewis who did an excellent job.

Benny Dyer W6 Edgar Wymarra
Welterweights
Coming into this match-up, there were big wraps on Edgar who fights out of the Mundine camp, they will now have to re-think this after he was bullied out of the contest by local boy Dyer, who was allowed to get away with whatever he wanted by referee Alan Simpson. Wymarra started strong, but after bad use of the head in the second round by Dyer, he started to fade as Benny realised that it was Carte Blanche and after that only one fighter was in the reckoning as Head-Butt Benny outhustled and outmuscled his man. A good win for Dyer who is now 2-1 as is Edgar.

Auckland Auimatagi KO2 Rick Horsburgh
Heavyeweights
Time for "Australia's Butterbean" to find another occupation. With a huge right hand after easily winning the first round, Auimatagi joined the select list of approximately 14 other blokes that have beaten The Bean. Rick managed to beat the count but the fight was wisely stopped by Wally Lewis, who had a great night as third man, time was :49

Collingwood, Vic. 6/4/01

Nick Tetoros DQ10 Reuben Martyn
WBO Asia-Pacific Junior Welterweight Title
Tetoris continues to add to his title collection by adding the WBO belt to his PABA title and taking his record to 9/1 (4) with the DQ win. Trainer Keith Ellis entered the ring to save his charge from further punishment, which seemed to incurr the wrath of promoter Peter Maniatis, which is puzzling considering the tragic events of the night. Tetoris in control the whole way.

Matty Pauley TKO11 Darren Miller
ANBF Super-Lightweight Title
The transplanted Kiwi Matthew Pauley continues to impress. This time taking out the Veteran, "Thriller" Miller. This was the first defence of the title that he won by dismantling the hard-punching Jimmy Savage of Queensland. Pauley is a true technician with a stiff punch and a fantastic amatuer background. He is still fairly inexperienced in the pros but will continue to thrive if he carefully rises the ranks (seems a bit strange to say that about and Australian Champ eh?). He should defintely stay away from the Rowsells of this world for a while! Still he is the ANBF champ and has done well in a short time. According to my sources, there was concern about him meeting the Qld Champ Savage to contest the vacant belt but it seems that ANBF Secretary Brad Vocale was vindicated by approving that match-up.

Tony Pappa TKO6 Ahamd Popal
Victorian Bantamweight Title
A sad night for boxing and the Popal family with the popular Popal not regaining conciousness from a freak accident in the ring. Click here for a run-down on Ahmad's plight and an obituary. Forget all the 'Geniuses' with 20-20 hindsight. Ahmad did deserve to be in the ring with Pappa (Although maybe not for a Victorian title - that should never include an out-of-stater). Ahmad was ahead on all cards 49-44, 49-44 and 49-45, Tony had lost 3 of his six bouts by KO and Popal had never been in a gruelling bout.. coming into this one. Ahmad was in complete control until Tony landed a forceful flurry in the fatal sixth round which stunned him, in the enssuing wrestling both fighters fell over with the Victorian going to one knee but the visitor toppling backwards and hitting the back of his head hard. The ringside medico did his best to look after the stricken fighter, I guess now it is up to the Autopsy to find out what ended the life of this brave man.

UNDERCARD
David Diecke made short work (KO1) of Jimmy Shannon, Nedol Haddara took the points over 4 rounds against Didier Milian. Tommy Hammer made sure Mohammed Haddara did not come out for the second. Irish Eyes were smiling when Mark McFarland outpointed Wally Rohayem over 6 rounds, and Justin Noel took the nod over four against fellow debutant Daniel Marks.

Townsville, Queensland. 31/03/01

Brad Reid D8 Peter Rolph
Middleweights
No scores to hand at this stage, nor details. Weights: Reid 73.7, Rolph 73.3

Carl Kelly TKO4 Shane Hooper
Light-Heavyweights
Might be time for "Fozzy" to reconsider his future in the ring after another stoppage loss. A great trier and game competitor, he has been stopped quite often. Kelly 83.5, Hooper 81.