Fletcher dethrones Mwetupunga to claim Australian Middleweight title

In his first national title challenge, Jarrod Fletcher put on a boxing clinic as he outpointed reigning Australian middleweight titlist Tito Mwetupunga in an unsatisfying yet efficient performance over ten-rounds at The Melbourne Pavilion – Victoria’s home of championship boxing on Friday night.

Mwetupunga, 35, who was aiming to make his fifth successful title defence, spent most of the fight chasing a strangely passive Jarrod Fletcher around the ring. Fletcher, 28, boxed well from a distance as he appeared to outscore the defending champion with relative ease en route to a unanimous-decision victory before a sell-out crowd on what was Fox Sports second broadcast for the year.

A cagey opening saw Mwetupunga attempt to force the action, while Fletcher probed his target with his now trademark left jab.

The Namibia-born defending champion tried to cut-off the ring in an attempt to limit Fletcher’s arsenal, however the classy 2006 Commonwealth Games gold medallist used great evasive skills to avoid a majority if not all of the punches thrown by Mwetupunga.

This was a trend that lasted for a majority of the early-rounds as Mwetupunga would try to set up his shots, while Fletcher seemed content to avoid any kind of scrap – instead wishing to fight his own-fight from a distance and effectively attack in limited spurts.

The Hervey Bey resident looked fast and strong whenever he decided to force the action – but due to his hesitance to engage, made the fight at times a frustrating spectacle to watch.

It was clear from the third round onwards that this was a firm part of his strategy and he was sticking to it – at least for the short term. With the win, the former Olympian Fletcher extends his record to 11-0 (7 KOs) – maintaining the perfect log he’s held since turning professional in 2009.

In the end, Mwetupunga, now 11-3 (5 KOs), just couldn’t keep up with Fletcher, who looked fresh for almost the entire fight. As the rounds passed, Fletcher grew more and more confident and appeared to have the fight won with several rounds remaining.

Mwetupunga had the backing of a strong fan turnout, but Fletcher quickly silenced the crowd with a great display of his technical skill.
 

Ramadan sees off a gallant Graf in world title eliminator

Fight of the Night honours were guaranteed when Susie Ramadan saw off a gallant challenge from Alesia Graf and picked up the WBC Female International Bantamweight Title – winning a highly controversial split points decision that gave more questions than answers in the semi main event of the televised four-fight card.

Ramadan, now 22-1 (8 KOs), got the fight going at her pace early, keeping her distance and trying to stay away from Graf’s signature body shots.

The fight was a close, hard-fought battle that went back and forth from the opening bell. Graf appeared to be wearing the slicker and heavily favoured Ramadan down and appeared to have a close but comfortable lead going into the final round.

However, Ramadan managed to do enough to stay ahead on two of the judges scorecards and after a lengthy delay for the scorecards – was ultimately awarded the controversial decision.

A clearly disappointed Graf, now 25-3 (10 KOs), expressed her disgust at the decision going against her afterward and later asked for a rematch. If a second fight between the two of them could be made – I think they would be a lot more fanfare around it and deservedly so.

Jerkic knocks out Kanth in 53 seconds

The precursor to the two big-titles fights was the highly anticipated showdown between undefeated Indigenous prospect Rocky Jerkic and Sri-Lankan hard nut Dinesh Kanth. Because of their aggressive styles and seek-and-destroy mentalities, many of the hardcore boxing fans were excited about this matchup.

And after all of 53 seconds later – you could see why.

Photo by Louie Abigail

erkic, 24, was expected to get past Kanth, but there were a lot of people within the industry tipping a Kanth upset, by knockout. This was mainly for the fact that he was a significant step up in class for Jerkic and also because plain and simple – Kanth has knockout power in both hands.

After a series of left-hooks and devastating right-hands, Kanth, 30, was shaken once, floored twice and was left laying unconscious with Jerkic making a statement that no-one could have possibly expected – all inside of one round.

The delivery of the knockout was brutal and served as a tidy reminder for a career that had thus far, been built on promise and comparisons alone. The fact that Jerkic, now 3-0 (2 KOs), was able to execute a game-plan so well against his toughest opponent to date in near perfect fashion makes this victory all the more impressive.

After the highlight-reel knockout, Jerkic stated that he intends to remain busy in 2012 and will be looking at dropping down to light-middleweight, where he has the potential to make some serious noise.

Full Results:

• Australian Middleweight Title: Jarrod Fletcher def Tito Mwetupunga via unanimous decision
• Susie Ramadan def Alesia Graf via split decision
• Rocky Jerkic def Dinesh Kanth via knockout, Round 1
• Oscar Siale def Kane Watts via unanimous decision
• Matt Lytwynenko def Neil Gysbers via TKO, Round 1
• Paul Watson def Stavros Karanicolas via TKO, Round 4

Photos by Louie ‘Rockfingrz’ Abigail (Photography by Rockfingrz)

Source:  www.aus-boxing.com/2012/02/25/fletcher-decisions-mwetupunga-for-australian-middleweight-title/