Despite dislocating his shoulder before the fight's midway point, a Northland boxer went on to win his bout in an amateur tournament at the Super City Boxing Gym last Saturday.
Representing the Kaeo Boxing Club, 17-year-old, 70kg Toa Duncan who hails from Pipiwai but currently works in Kerikeri, was matched against Tim Allen (17, 69kg) from the Bay Boxing Gym of Brown's Bay.
Fighting out of the blue corner, Duncan went on the front foot from the bell and a big right towards the end of the first round saw the ref putting an 8-count on Allen which he survived. Duncan went in for the kill early in the second, launching another big right which resulted in him dislocating his shoulder - apparently a recurring injury - and thus earning himself an 8-count. Managing to pop his shoulder in, Duncan was allowed to continue the fight for the remainder of round 2 and all of round 3, albeit with only one arm but he still managed to put a couple of strong left hooks on his opponent which helped the judges award the result on a unanimous decision.
Duncan's KBC trainer Rusty Porter said Duncan's was not only the "gutsiest fight" on the 18-bout card, but one of the most courageous performances he'd ever seen.
Porter took four local boxers to the Manukau tournament and their results were as follows. First up was Kyall Chen (15, 56kg) of Kerikeri fighting against Taka Makino (16, 62kg, Whangarei). Chen was stopped in the second round with Porter noting Makino was too strong.
The next Far North local to climb between the ropes - making his debut in the process - was 12-year-old Rob Willems (50kg, Kerikeri) and matched against Lorenzo Brown (12, 48kg, Super City Boxing Gym) in bout 5. With five fights to his credit, the local exploited superior experience and home advantage to outbox Willems and win via unanimous decision.
In bout 9, Kerikeri's Blake Hodges (16, 62kg) took on Malathai Hirini (16, 70kg, Nawton's Gym, Hamilton). Both fighters were experienced but while Hirini had 28 fights to Hodges' 18, it was the latter who won the bout on a majority decision.
The fourth and final fight of the night for the KBC troupe was the Duncan vs Allen match-up in bout 13.
Of the overall result, eg, two wins from four fights, Porter said, "50 per cent strike rate, that's not bad".
"Overall, good tournament, well run. We had a good team," said Porter, adding his thanks to all the parents who travelled alongside and helped out over the weekend.
In other news, Kaeo-born Jamie Porter (Rusty's son) was fighting on the undercard of the Casino Class World Boxing event held on the Gold Coast last night. Porter faced Marco Monarco before the main event being Jeff Horn vs Rivan Cesaire battling for the WBO Welterweight Title. The fight card also features the infamous John Hopoate.
Results from Jamie Porter's progress will feature next week.