Stevan Ivic will get credit for a shutout win but it doesn’t reflect the work he had to put in to maintain his undefeated record.
The 34-year-old heavyweight outpointed John Maila over ten rounds Saturday at Mansfield Tavern in his Brisbane, Australia hometown. Scores of 100-90 across the board were accurate, even if not indicative of the competitive nature of each round.
With the win, Ivic (6-0-1, 2 knockouts) claimed the vacant Australian heavyweight title.
“It’s a dream come true. It’s something I’ve been working for for a long time,” said Ivic. “He’s one tough bastard. In case you didn’t notice it, I was trying to get rid of him. I couldn’t do it.”
Ivic, 34, enjoyed a substantial height and reach advantage over the stockier Maila (6-2, 5 KOs).
It was the first time both boxers had fought for a national crown. Victory meant a lot to both of them.
Both boxers spent the first round gauging their opponent. But the niceties don’t last long. Maila, with his bob-and-weave style, started working his way inside in the second. Ivic kept him at bay with the check hook.
Ivic wanted to keep the fight long, working off the jab. Maila kept him guessing with the leaping left hook.
Ivic frustrated Maila in the third, but the 34-year-old from Ipswich, who was born in American Samoa, hung tough. Brisbane resident Ivic, who was born in Fairfield, New South Wales, got off with quality combinations in the fourth.
The fifth opened with a firefight. Maila was explosive, but Ivic was more consistent with his output and accuracy.
Ivic started fast in the sixth, keen to let his opponent know who was boss. Sensing his opponent might be wilting, Ivic piled on the pressure. Maila was able to weather the storm and see out the attack.
The small ring was designed for a heavyweight throwdown and it didn’t fail to deliver. The action turned to the inside in the seventh, with Ivic foregoing his height and reach advantages to trade in the trenches.
The pace slowed a little in the eighth as both boxers kept something in reserve for the final two rounds.
The pair fought in spurts through the last two rounds, but it was Ivic who proved to be the cleverer technician. In the ninth, he sat in the pocket and attacked the body with both hands, finishing off upstairs with the left hook. In the 10th, he tattooed Maila from range. Despite the occasional success, Maila was left swinging for the fences much of the time.
The semi-main event saw lightweight Jalen Tait (16-1, 8 KOs) shake off his recent loss to former Olympian Ibrahim Balla in July to comfortably outpoint Yangcheng Jin (18-9-2, 7 KOs).
“I couldn’t wait to get back in the winner’s circle,” said Tait, before adding, “I learnt to do it the way I do it, not the way other people tell me to do it.”
The Queensland southpaw picked and poked, boxing up on his toes with his hands down, goading his Chinese opponent to come at him. When Jin obliged, he paid the price.
The timing of Tait was the difference, even if the bout looked a bit like of a disco dance in the early going. Tait sat down on his punches early in the sixth, but Jin was hard to dissuade.
Still, Tait landed the more jarring punches against the game and tough Jin in the seventh. He went on with it in the eighth and final round, punishing Jin with his sharp-shooting from the outside.
The scores were 80-72 twice and 79-73.
Queensland state welterweight champion Ken Aitken (9-1, 1 KOs) retained his title on points in what devolved into an ugly fight against Caden Russo (3-2) in their eight-round clash.
Aitken was the sharper boxer from the opening gong against the lefthanded Russo, who appeared to suffer a jaw injury in the third round after a solid left hook caught him flush. He boxed the rest of the round with his mouth open.
Aitken remained composed while Russo got increasingly reckless. The challenger returned to his corner at the end of the fourth with a cut over his left eye that was ruled to be caused by a headclash from referee Paul Tapley. Russo’s corner controlled the bleeding and it was never a factor in the fight after that.
The fight got scrappy in the back half, with a lot of grappling on the inside. Both fighters were to blame. Referee Tapley, a former Queensland welterweight champion in his own right, showed a firm hand in forcing them to box their way out of the clinches.
In the end, Aitken got the nod via unanimous decision. It was not the type of fight you need to see again.
Ex-national champion Ben Mahoney made a successful return to the ring after a year-and-a-half layoff with a final-round knockout of Abulimiti Tuersunniyazi.
Mahoney shook off any rust by the third round of their scheduled eight-round junior middleweight contest, dominating his opponent and controlling center ring. Mahoney piled on the pressure in the sixth, walking Tuersunniyazi onto hard shots with both hands.
Things didn’t get any easier for the Chinese visitor after that, with Mahoney pushing Tuersunniyazi back and showing a good variety in his offensive arsenal. Tuersunniyazi proved durable but didn’t have the work rate or power to keep the local boxer off him.
The hard work from Mahoney paid dividends in the eighth. He dropped Tuersunniyazi twice, forcing the referee to wave off the bout at the 2:00 mark.
Mahoney remains undefeated at 14-0-1 with 8 knockouts. Tuersunniyazi drops to 9-4-2 with 7 knockouts.
Light heavyweight Kira Ruston (3-0, 3 KOs) was taken past the opening round for the first time in his pro career with a second-round stoppage of overmatched debutant Brayden Nallajar in their scheduled four-round bout. The time was 1:08.
In the opener, heavyweight Jeremiah Tupai-Ui moved to 2-0 with a unanimous decision win against Caleb Tialu (2-5, 2 KOs) over four heats with scores of 39-37 across the board.
The fights were broadcast live and free in Australia on 7plus and promoted by ACE Boxing as part of the Premier Boxing Series.
Australian-based boxing journalist Anthony Cocks has been covering the sport for over 20 years for various print and online publications.
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