Former amateur Jason Mallia (9-0, 5 KOs) cruised through his first 10-round fight with flying colours to claim a commanding points victory over tough-as-nails Ben Horn (6-8, 1 KO) to be crowned Australian welterweight champion at the Pullman Hotel in Albert Park, Melbourne on Thursday evening.
Mallia, 29, a crafty boxer-puncher with quick hands, didn’t have things going his way early on after Horn’s right hook badly damaged his left eye. Horn, with his awkward, pressuring style, came at Mallia in the third round, targeting his damaged eyeball.
Mallia, with restricted vision, had to box through adversity for the next few rounds. He had the better of it in the fourth, pushing Horn away and landing faster punches. The left hook was a particularly effective weapon for the Melbourne native, while the overhand right snapped Horn’s head back. But to the credit of the younger brother of former WBO welterweight titleholder Jeff Horn, the 34-year-old from Brisbane seemed unfazed by the attack.
Mallia continued to work better in the fifth round, but his left eye remained a problem. Horn fell behind and had to find another gear in the sixth round, and although he failed to do so, he largely gave it his all and engaged in some energetic exchanges.
As the fight wore on, Mallia settled into his rhythm. Horn’s onslaught became less habitual and more predictable. Mallia managed to mix piercing jabs with movement, repeatedly landing piercing right hooks on Horn.
With one round left in the fight for the vacant national crown, Horn was told in the corner by his trainer Glenn Rushton to go out there and look for a knockout. Horn tried, but Mallia had all the answers. In the second half of the round, he hit Horn with a relentless right hook to the face that snapped his head back and caused a nosebleed.
After the ballots were counted, Mallia was declared the winner by a vote of 98-92, 100-90 and 99-91.
“He hit me with a really good shot and I knew I had to stay focused. It was a little rugged at first, but I just stuck to the plan,” Mallia said, squinting through his injured left eye after the win.
“Anyone who knows me and knows my story knows I was in boxing and I always came up miniature, so this means everything to me. It goes back to when I was 13, when I was the little boy inside me. I trained so challenging and everyone knows I don’t take the effortless way out, so this means everything to me.”
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In the highlight reel, junior middleweight support Lilo Telepe (5-0, 5 KOs) lived up to expectations by dropping and stopping Luke Gersbeck (7-1-1, 5 KOs) midway through the fourth round of their eight-round bout.
Telepe, from Auckland, Fresh Zealand, boxs in Melbourne’s western suburbs. The 19-year-old has been making waves with his explosive style since turning pro in April last year, knocking out his first four opponents in less than two rounds. In his first eight-round fight with Gersbeck, the real question was how Telepe would fare if his opponent managed to get him deep into the fight. We barely got to find out.
Gersbeck, 30, from Balaclava, was clearly the more astute boxer. But that didn’t matter much against the crouching Telepe, who dragged him into the trenches and regularly won exchanges when he broke through.
The first sign that Gersbeck might be in trouble came early in the second round when Telepe sent his mouthpiece flying. Telepe continued to press, finding success with a three-punch combination to the body and head that dropped Gersbeck to the boards.
Gersbeck recovered towards the end of the third and with a series of powerful shots lifted Telepe’s head off the ground, but it was not enough to make up for the deficit and win the points.
Gersbeck’s faster hands continued to land in the third round, but Telepe remained hazardous with his powerful punches that were thrown from all sides. The pace of the fight was already starting to show, as both boxers were visibly tired by the sound of the bell. Gersbeck returned to the corner with swelling and a compact cut under his right eye. A piercing right hook to the jaw from Telepe was the most noticeable punch of the round.
Things quickly came to a head in the fourth round. Telepe’s relentless pressure paid dividends as he hit the tiring Gersbeck with a punch that sent him to the canvas. Gersbeck beat the count but Telepe charged back, landing a double-fisted punch on the defenseless boxer on the ropes. Referee Brett Manton stepped in to save Gersbeck from further punishment at 1:52 of the round.
Telepe celebrated his victory with a backflip off the top rope.
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In a thrilling and active eight-round fight for the vacant Victorian middleweight title, Blake Wells (11-2, 5 KOs) won on points over Apai Cook (3-2, 3 KOs) by the narrowest of eight rounds.
At 6-foot-1, Wells seemed to have all the physical advantages over Cook, who was four inches shorter, and for the first two rounds it seemed that way. But Cook began to find his range in the third, crushing his opponent with challenging punches.
In the fourth round, Cook tried his hand at the left-handed Wells and even showed off a bit, which cost him dearly slow in the round when Wells’ right hook caught him on the chin and sent him to the canvas.
The fifth round saw several lively exchanges with both boxers trading on equal terms. Cook opened a compact vertical cut above Wells’ eye with a leading right hand slow in the round.
Wells boxed well early in the sixth round, but the pace of the fight began to take its toll as Cook began to land ponderous punches, landing challenging to the body and head. Wells went straight at Cook early in the seventh round, but came up miniature in the exchanges. He had more success as the fight went on, but his punches were snail-paced. Cook snapped Wells’ head back with a right hook slow in the round and continued to attack the body with venom.
Wells landed a few nifty left hooks in the eighth, but Cook responded with a head-splitting left hook. Cook’s ponderous bodywork continued into the final round, with many combinations ending with a breadbasket punch.
The winner was ultimately decided by knockdown, with Wells winning the fight by a score of 76-75 on two judges’ scores, while the third judge had Cook have the same advantage.
A rematch would not be a disappointment.
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