Heavy handed
hometown heroes

by Peter Firkins

Pictures by Terry Lee

 

De Mori plumps lusty left

. . then slams Fiji jaw

Out!

Winner flexes. Loser dabs eye.

 

On a Mui Thai kickboxing card in Perth on Saturday December 2, two Queensberry boxers stole the limelight by destroying their Fijian opposition inside two rounds.

Heavyweight Mark de Mori (10 -1-2, 9 KO) proved his popularity, pulling a full house for his first pro fight in hometown Perth.

The Craigie Leisure Centre rafters began shaking with chants of “de Mori, de Mori” as the 24 year old muscleman came out to face “The Honeyboy” Fijian, Fatu Tui Tuimanono (7-7-1, 6 KO) on this WMP promotion.

It looked to be a good opponent for de Mori, as Tuimanono’s most recent fights were against highly experienced Australian heavyweights, Bob Mirovic and Lawrence Tauasa.

In the first round de Mori used his jab well to push Tuimanono back against the ropes, unloading with body shots and hooks. The Fijian’s best work came in close when the fighters were clinching, however “The Honeyboy” never really looked like having the sting to keep de Mori off. De Mori was lighter on his feet than normal, working behind the jab to shoot his right hand.

The end came at 1:53 in the second round: de Mori’s combination right hook to the brow and left hook to the jaw dropped Tuimanono on his back for the full count,

A large cut over the right eye was attended by the ringside doctor.

IN the other boxing match of the night, Daniel “The Rock” Dawson (25-1, 7 KOs) kept his unblemished record intact with a clinical dismantlement of Fijian Taniela Vatunicoko. The Fijian was reported as being (10-7) by his team coming into this fight, however the stats police at BoxRec have him listed as 0-1.

Once again the crowd went crazy for the hometown fighter Dawson, as he entered the ring looking trim and menacing as always.

Dawson was overshooting with a lead left hook in the first round, and seemed to be trying to load up too much.

He lowered his shots in the second round however, and started to punch at the chest of Vatunicoko which seemed to be the correct adjustment as he dropped the Fijian with a crisp left rip for the count-out.

The Perth boxing scene may be getting a bit of a revival. Other active boxers, Roger Izonritei, Ryo Hidaka, Robbie Bryant, Adam Wills et al. are likely to be offered work on Perth turf.