Canterbury Bulldogs forward Tevita Pangai Jr has won his debut boxing match, defeating Gerico Cecil via TKO in the second round.
The four-round right looked unlikely to go the distance as Cecil absorbed a lot of blows from the former Panther and Bronco, but still managed to throw a few countershots of his own.
However, it was complete domination from Pangai in the opening minute of the second as the referee repeatedly requested Cecil to engage, but after some more punishment, the bell was rung after just over a minute.
AS IT HAPPENED: Hardman v Stowe, Pangai Jr v Cecil
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Pangai was congraluated by a healthy contingent of fans and members of the NRL community at ringside.
“He did very well for a first time, that’s for sure,” said Jeff Horn after the fight.
“He wasn’t just out there swinging wildly, it looked like he had a bit of boxing ability.”
Bulldogs boss Phil Gould said his new recruit “handled himself very well.”
https://twitter.com/PhilGould15/status/1467050749834121217
It was another dominant win for Issac Hardman in the main event of the evening as Adam Stowe’s corner throws the towel in the fourth round.
Hardman was a nearly unbackable favourite and made it a perfect 12-0 record since turning from MMA to boxing.
Hardman remains the Australian middleweight champion and IBF Australasian champion, with big things on the horizon.
“He was starved of the opportunity to fight the big names, and he took this at the drop of a hat,” Hardman said of his opponent afterwards.
“Credit to Adam, there needs to be more blokes like Adam Stowe.”
Hardman said that Stowe nearly cost him his paycheck with his pre-fight promise that he’d shout the bar if the fight went more than five rounds.
“Youse get nothing,” he joked.
While being interviewed by Jeff Horn afterwards, he said his plan was to fight Michael Zerafa next.
In the co-main event, Jai Opetaia moved on to fight for the IBF cruiserweight title after an emphatic win over Daniel Russell, ending it via TKO in the third round.
Opetaia was well on top, and after Russell was down to a knee for the third time, the referee stepped in and ended things.
Opetaia was originally slated to fight Trent Broadhurst, who was injured in the lead-up.
Russell performed admirably on ten days’ noticed but in the third round it was too muich and Opetaia extends his professional record to 21-0.
“Hat off to him for taking the fight,” Opetaia said afterwards.
“I was trying to be patient, but at the same time I was really trying to hit him – he didn’t want to engage too much, he was just trying to wait so it was a bit hard.”
Earlier on the card, up-and-coming super featherweight Dana Coolwell won the Australian title by defeating Miles Zalewski via KO (although it could have ended earlier if not for a time-keeping error), while veteran Lucas Browne also grabbed a victory.
Browne came into his fight for the WBA heavyweight title against Faiga ‘Django’ Opelu as a massive outsider with the bookies, but came away with a sensational knockout win with just one second left in the seventh round.
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