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 knocked out John Maila over ten rounds on Saturday at Mansfield Tavern in his hometown of Brisbane, Australia. Scores of 100-90 across the board were accurate, though 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 towards for a long time,” Ivic said. “He’s a tough bastard. In case you haven’t noticed, I tried to get rid of him. I couldn’t do it.”
Ivic (34) enjoyed a significant height and reach advantage over the stockier Maila (6-2, 5 KOs).
It was the first time that both boxers fought for a national crown. Victory meant a lot to both of them.
Both boxers spent the first round measuring their opponent. But the goodies don’t last long. Maila, with his bob and weave style, started working inside in the second. Ivic kept him away with the check hook.
Ivic wanted to keep the fight going for a long time and finish the sting. 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, stayed tough. Brisbane native Ivic, who was born in Fairfield, New South Wales, started 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 quickly in the sixth, eager to let his opponent know who was boss. Sensing that 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 cast and it did not fail to deliver. The action turned inside in the seventh, with Ivic giving up his height and reaching advantages to trade in the trenches.
The pace slowed slightly in the eighth as both boxers kept something in reserve for the final two rounds.
The two battled to a standstill in the final two rounds, but it was Ivic who proved to be the more astute technician. In the ninth he sat in the pocket and attacked the body with both hands and finished off the top with the left hook. In the 10th, he tattooed Maila from series. Despite the occasional success, Maila was left swinging for the fences much of the time.
In the semi-main event, lightweight Jalen Tait (16-1, 8 KOs) shook 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 into the winner’s circle,” Tait said, before adding, “I’ve learned to do it the way I do it, not the way other people tell me to do it not.”
The Queensland southpaw picked and jabbed, boxing with his hands down on his toes and urging his Chinese opponent to come at him. When Jin obliged, he paid the price.
Tait’s timing was the difference, even if the fight looked a bit like a disco dance in the early stages. Tait sat down on his punches early in the sixth, but Jin was hard to discourage.
Still, Tait took the more shocking blows against the match and the tough Jin in the seventh. He continued it in the eighth and final round, punishing Jin with his outside sharpshooting.
The scores were twice 80-72 and 79-73.
Queensland welterweight champion Ken Aitken (9-1, 1 KOs) retained his title on points in what turned into an ugly battle against Caden Russo (3-2) in their eight-round showdown.
Aitken was the sharper boxer from the opening gong against the left-handed 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 calm while Russo became increasingly reckless. The challenger returned to his corner at the end of the fourth with a cut over his left eye which referee Paul Tapley said was caused by a head clash. Russo’s corner controlled the bleeding and it was never a factor in the fight after that.
The battle became tight in the back half, with a lot of fighting on the inside. Both fighters were to blame. Referee Tapley, a former Queensland welterweight champion in his own right, showed a firm hand to force them to box their way out of the clinches.
In the end, Aitken got the nod by unanimous decision. It wasn’t the type of fight you needed to see again.
Former 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 Tuersunnyazi.
Mahoney shook off any rust by the third round of their scheduled eight-round junior middleweight contest, dominating his opponent and center ring. Mahoney piled on the pressure in the sixth, walking Tuersunnyazi with both hands on hard punches.
Things didn’t get any easier for the Chinese visitor after that, with Mahoney pushing Tuersunnyazi back and showing good variety in his attacking arsenal. Tuersunnyazi was durable but didn’t have the work rate or power to keep the local boxer off him.
Mahoney’s hard work paid off in the eighth. He dropped Tuersunnyazi twice, forcing the referee to wave the match at 2:00.
Mahoney remains undefeated at 14-0-1 with 8 knockouts. Tuersunnyazi drops to 9-4-2 with 7 strikeouts.
Light heavyweight Kira Ruston (3-0, 3 KOs) was taken past the opening round for the first time in his professional 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 victory over Caleb Tialu (2-5, 2 KOs) over four rounds by 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 boxing journalist Anthony Cocks has covered the sport for over 20 years for various print and online publications.
