Aussie Wrap-up: Fleming scores early knockout, Kambosos Jr., Brunker, and Caparello talk recent wins, Doheny and Browne land big fights in Russia
By Anthony Cocks
Undefeated super featherweight Paul “Showtime” Fleming 24-0 (16) is the forgotten man of Australian boxing.
Despite a promotional deal with Las Vegas outfit Top Rank, Fleming has largely flown under the radar in recent years. It hasn’t helped that multiple fights have fallen through or that a ligament strain has kept him out of the ring for much of the year.
Bouts booked on the undercard of Joseph Parker’s title winning effort against Andy Ruiz, Jeff Horn’s breakthrough victory over Manny Pacquiao and Zou Shiming’s last show all fell through for one reason or another.
Last weekend Fleming punched his ticket for knockout of the year with his first fight in almost twelve months.
Fleming showed little signs of ring rust as he made short work of Tanzanian Sadiki Momba 24-9-3 (10) who fell just 0:28 seconds into the second round of a scheduled eight round bout.
The crowd at the Emporium Function Centre in Bankstown, Sydney erupted in cheers when the slingshot looping left from the southpaw connected with the chin of Momba with a whip-like crack. He was out cold before he hit the canvas.
“That left hook has been a shot I’ve been knocking guys out with throughout my career,” said Fleming, a proud Aboriginal father of three young children.
“It’s the left rip to the body, left hook to the head. I reckon I’ve knocked out six, seven, eight guys with the same shot.
“It was like I’m Spiderman and it was a Spidey reflex. I knew it was there and it was all instinct. If I hit any super featherweight with that shot – Miguel Berchelt, anyone – if I hit them that quick, fast and sharp, I would knock them out.”
The 29-year-old Beijing Olympian admits that it has been hard to get his momentum back after spending some time away from the sport.
“Ever since I had that break a couple of years ago it got hard to get rolling again,” said Fleming.
Despite his time away from the prize ring Fleming has stayed active in the gym often sparring with some of the best talent in and around his weight class like former national and regional champion Valentine Borg and world ranked pair Nathaniel May and Darragh Foley.
Fleming was offered a fight with Mexican WBC super featherweight champion Miguel Berchelt on a couple of weeks’ notice but turned down the fight as it wouldn’t have given him enough time to prepare. WBO featherweight champ Oscar Valdez, also of Mexico, is understood to be considering a move up in weight.
“We’ve had some positive feedback about a possible big fight early next year. We’ve heard rumours of some world titleholders moving up in weight, so there might be an opportunity there.
“But until I’m walking out to the ring to fight Valdez or Berchelt, it ain’t happening.”
Fleming is hoping to get back in the ring as soon as December and says that the fight could take place in Australia or overseas.
“Whether we fight here or abroad, it doesn’t matter,” said Fleming, who travelled extensively as an amateur and has already fought in the USA, Macao, China and the Philippines as a pro.
While he waits for his next fight to get made, he draws strength from his children who range in age from two to five.
“At the end of the day boxing can finish tomorrow for me, but my kids will always be there,” Fleming explains.
“Whether I’ve spent the day scaffolding or folding clothes, when they ask me how my day was, they ask me because they literally care how my day was. It’s not idle chit-chat, their love is unconditional.”
VICTORY LAPS: GEORGE KAMBOSOS JR, JOEL BRUNKER & BLAKE CAPARELLO
Sydney boxer “Ferocious” George Kambosos Jr 13-0 (7) made a successful Melbourne debut on Friday night with a TKO9 of Thailand’s Krai Setthaphon 25-3 (16) of in a scheduled 10 rounder at the Melbourne Pavilion in Flemington, Victoria on a Big Time Boxing card.
“This was a good test, especially for my Melbourne debut,” said Kambosos. “This guy had only been beat by two other world rated fighters, winning the fight against [Czar] Amonsot before being caught, and losing a good twelve round fight this year against the WBC #7 and IBF #5 Masayoshi Nakatani from Japan.
“For me to go in there and not get hit, stick to the gameplan, break a tough, experienced veteran fighter down and ultimately knock them out in impressive fashion when I wanted to, that shows the level that I’m at, especially after sparring fifty rounds with Manny Pacquiao and coming off two huge victories over Brandon Ogilvie and Qamil Balla.
“I’m straight back into the gym today as I always am after any fight, continually evolving my weapons and craft to the fight game.”
WBA #7 Kambosos is a man in a hurry and the quickest way he sees to a world championship opportunity is through the man ranked second in the world by the World Boxing Association.
Evens Pierre, “The Sun City Kid” from Port-au-Prince in Haiti, is 33-years-old with a record of 28-1 (18). He owns the WBA Fedalatin lightweight title that he won three years ago and has successfully defended it three times.
The names on Pierre’s ledger are the usual mixed bag of journeymen and tough but limited Latinos. His sole loss was to Rosano Lawrence in 2010, 12-9-1 at the time, but he avenged that loss three fights later.
He has fought just six times in Haiti with the rest of his fights taking placing in neighbouring Panama.
“I will fight one more time this year and we are chasing the top five fighters in the world, especially WBA #2 Evens Pierre. But in saying that, anyone in the world ratings above me can get it, and must know that there is the hungriest and most determined fighter not only in Australian boxing but in world boxing. Ferocious is coming.”
On the same card “Aussie” Joel Brunker 32-2 (18) wasn’t entirely satisfied with his performance against Thai Khamron Klaphaisan 19-2 (14), chalking that up at least in part to his opponent’s difficult style and lack of height.
“I gathered he would be awkward and try to make it hard for me,” said WBA #9 featherweight Brunker. “I hate short fighters and him being a southpaw only made it worse.
“But I felt in control, it just took me too long to relax out there.
“[I] started feeling better towards the end. It was good to get the rounds as I’ve been so inactive the last few years.”
It was a solid six round points victory for Brunker – who was last in the ring seven months ago – against an opponent who had only lost once before and had a reputation as being something of a puncher.
Headlining the show former world title challenger Blake “Il Capo” Caparello 26-2-1 (10) continued his recent string of knockouts with a third round KO of Mexican-based Brazilian Fabiano Pena 15-9-1 (11).
The 31-year-old light heavyweight, who sat highly rated pound-for-pound boxer Sergey Kovalev on his britches when they met in 2014, has now scored four knockouts in a row after dropping a ten round decision to IBF interim super middleweight champion Andre Dirrell in Atlantic City, New Jersey in 2016.
“Yeah, I know I’ve always had the power and I have hurt several of my previous opponents but never stepped on the gas to finish them,” said WBC #9 and WBA #15 Caparello.
“Now when I hurt my opponents I’m believing in myself and finishing them.”
TJ DOHENY & LUCAS BROWNE SECURE BIG FIGHTS IN RUSSIA
Super bantamweight TJ “The Power” Doheny 17-0 (13) takes a big step up in class when he takes on former IBF featherweight champion Evgeny Gradovich 23-2-1 (9) on 15 December at DIVS, Ekaterinburg, Russia in an official eliminator for the IBF #1 spot.
Doheny is currently ranked #3 by the IBF while Gradovich is #6. Japan’s Tomoki Kameda and Mexico’s Diego De La Hoya sit between them in the rankings while the #1 and #2 positions are currently vacant.
Born in Portlaois, Ireland, the 30-year-old Australian-based southpaw turned pro in Sydney in April 2012. The best win on his ledger was a fifth round TKO of former WBA flyweight champion Sutep Wangmuk, 63-5-1 at the time, of Thailand. Doheny has stopped his last six opponents dating back to 2015.
Gradovich is best known to Australian fight fans for claiming the IBF featherweight title from Billy “The Kid” Dib by split decision in 2013 and rematching him later the same year to win by TKO9 in a fight he was comfortably in control of.
Gradovich drew with Jayson Velez in 2014 before losing the title to Welshman Lee Selby at the O2 Arena in London the following year by technical decision in the eighth round after a clash of heads opened a cut by his right eye.
A TKO4 loss to future world champion Oscar Valdez in April last year encourage Gradovich to move down in weight and try his luck at 122-pounds.
This is an interesting crossroads bout that will tell us a lot about where both boxers are in their careers and how much further they can go.
Meanwhile Lucas “Big Daddy” Browne 25-0 (22) is set to return to the ring against Sergey Kuzmin 11-0 (8) for the vacant WBA Intercontinental heavyweight title on 27 November at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia.
Browne has had just once fight since winning the WBA heavyweight title against Ruslan Chagaev in Grozny, Russia in March last year, a two round blowout against Matthew Greer at Club Punchbowl, Punchbowl, Sydney back in June. The 38-year-old has had just four fights in the past three years.
By contrast, Kuzmin had already fought three times this year. The dangerous, big-punching Russian is 6-foot-3, a three year pro and generally weighs in around the 250-pound mark.
At 6-foot-5 and around the 260-pound mark Browne will have a slight advantage in size, but this will be offset by his relative inactivity.
The most notable name on Kuzmin’s ledger is former fringe contender Malcolm Tann, who had had only one fight in almost ten year. Kuzmin was unsurprisingly dominant, sending Tann to the canvas a total of four times enroute to scoring a 4th round knockout.
Browne should have the skills, patience and experience to put Kuzmin away in the middle rounds of what should be an entertaining shootout.
SecondsOut Weekly Newsletter
Permission Statement
If you accept, we will process your data to fulfil this purpose.
