Friday Night Fights

A thick and boisterous crowd filled the Auckland Boxing Association last Saturday as it played home to the Glozier promoted ‘Friday Night Fights.’  The varied card showcased everything from first timers to top New Zealand ranked light heavyweight Soulan Pownceby and cruiserweight Vaitele Soi, the latter of whom had only fought four days prior.  With eleven corporate fights and five professional bouts, those in attendance could afford to blink.  Action would only be in surplus.

Monica Tai showed off a neat combination of slickness and power in stopping Margo Smith in two rounds.  Tai impressed all from the beginning, utilising her head movement and firing combinations at every opening which were a far cry from her “Brawla” moniker.  Smith attempted to push the pace but ended up on the receiving end of right hands.  The second round saw Tai become more comfortable and plant her feet, delivering hard single shots.  A right hand counter hurts Smith and the referee has seen enough.

As the old adage goes, the fastest way between two points is a straight line, and it was exactly this approach that helped Junior Bilbar stop kickboxer Hadleigh Donald in the opening round of a furious dustup.  Neither hold anything back as the opening bell sounds and both feel the impact of the others punches.  Bilbar begins to lay back on the ropes and fire off straight hard shots, which is a strategy that serves him well.  A three-punch combination swiftly introduces Donald to the floor and it doesn’t seem like Jon Conway trained fighter is able to make it back up.  He does but is almost immediately wobbled by a straight right which forces a standing eight count.  With Donald on wobbly legs, Bilbar empties the tank for an electrifying win.

In the first professional bout of the evening, Lee Oti put all his skills on display in a knockout victory of Dicky Pereira.  Oti’s movement takes center stage in the first round as he provides Pereira with difficult angles, deftly moves away from punches and punishes his mistakes.  Pereira has some success with his right hand in the second and Oti answers by turning up his power game and landing hard hooks and crosses.  Oti begins to press more in the third and, in the next round, sits Pereira down with a straight right hand.  Sensing that he has worn down his opponent’s resolve, Oti rushes in and wings punches that drop Pereira in the corner.  Although he rises, Pereira is bloodied and beaten giving the referee every reason to call a halt to the contest.

Although game, Peter Tovi’o was forced to retire after the fourth round in his bout against Soulan Pownceby.  The bout appeared to be a mismatch early, with Pownceby seemingly unable to miss and Tovi’o offering only wild, single punch responses however his unwillingness to capitulate made the bout difficult for his foe.  The third round, in particular, provided toe-to-toe action as Pownceby’s best bounced off Tovi’o and were answered in kind.  This courageous stand was destined to be limited by time and Tovi’o began to wilt in the fourth, was wobbled by an overhand right and his own punches became lethargic. 

Vaitele Soi continued improved his undefeated record to 19-0 (18KOs) with his first round decimation of Filipo Masoe.  Both clearly are adverse to any involvement from the judges and trade furiously early on.  A huge Soi power shot nearly blasts Masoe into next week and he finds himself on his back  early.  Able to beat the count, Soi bulls him into a corner and starts letting his hands go.  After copping some right hands, and unable to actively defend himself, the referee steps in to stop the carnage in the very first round.

Results

Corporate

Anna Leilua beat Veronica Maxwell by knockout in round 1
The bout between Peter Morrow and Jai Hill was declared a draw
Dan Fleming beat Shaun George by unanimous decision
Monica Tai beat Margo Smith by knockout in round 2
Gavin Speak beat Mike Burkett by majority decision
James Tonga beat Matt Sakavia by majority decision
Joel Smith beat Andre Choi by majority decision
Junior Bilbar beat Hadleigh Donald by knockout in round 1
Riaan Malaau beat Nathan Matonga by majority decision
Jordan Tolova’a beat Norman Iopu by knockout by round 3
The bout between Nick Suka and Kurt Mahani was ruled a majority draw

Professional
Lee Oti beat Dicky Pereira by knockout in round 3
Soulon Pownceby beat Peter Tovio by knockout after Tovio retired after round 4
Hemi Takarua beat Simi Tietie by knockout after Tietie retired after round 1
Rohit Sing beat Anmal Tiger by knockout in round 2
Vaitele Soi beat Filipo Masoe by knockout in round 1NZFighters article found here