cane cornes On Wednesday night, Anthony Rocca, Nathan Brown, Dane Swan and Mitch Robinson all emerged victorious in a boxing event attended by many former fighters, but were among the losers. commonwealth of australia Adelaide players. In the main event for the WBO World Super Featherweight Championship, Jackson England defeated Jamel Herring by split decision and Jack Brubaker defeated Yin Duck So by unanimous decision.
Alex Leapai Jr.'s professional boxing debut also started with a scare, but the teenage giant overcame a hot start from New Zealander Joe Ageli to win the bout. The 18-year-old son of former world heavyweight title challenger Alex Leapai lost in the first round but dominated the second half of the four-round fight.
But the biggest interest was in the four matches between former AFL players. After successfully knocking out Corey McKernan, Rocca showed great sportsmanship by supporting his opponent and preventing him from falling.
“I know I've put in a lot of work. I haven't put in a lot of work in preparation for this,” Rocca said. “I flashed it to him and I could see he went down from it. We don't want to hurt anyone. We're not boxers, we're going to come in here and do our best. Here The professionals who come here work very hard.”
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Australian boxing legend Danny Green said: “He hurt him in the first round with a shot. Corey knows he's not a boxer and was at a rock bottom. But… I'm so proud of this guy for showing so much class and grace. He knew he hurt himself. Classy acting by Anthony Rocca, you guessed it, he… He’s a classy guy.”
Kane Cornes is dominated by fellow AFL great Nathan Brown
Brown then stopped Cornes after landing a number of big blows, much to the delight of the crowd. “It's a good effort to get out of here,” Brown said. “We haven't done a lot of boxing, but the courage that Kane has coming out here…the thing I can say about Kane is that he'll tell it in the media, but he'll take it too. To the media. There are a lot of people like him who don't like to give it, who are afraid to give it. Hats off to him.”
Cornes admitted: “I've never been more nervous in my life.” This divisive commentator, like his conqueror and Channel 9 colleague Brown, garnered much praise.
Former Brisbane and Carlton star Robinson was perhaps the most impressive debut winner. Robinson dominated former Richmond player Kane Pettyfer, but suffered his first loss in the fourth fight of his professional career. Swann was also impressive in his win over Dale Thomas, drawing praise from Green on commentary.
Alex Leapay Jr. follows in his famous father's boxing footsteps
Outside of the AFL game, many people focused on Lee Pai Jr. during his professional debut. The 122kg giant was a schoolboy rugby league prodigy, signing for the Sydney Roosters and then the NRL's Gold Coast Titans. However, late last year he decided to follow in his father's footsteps full-time.
“It was a great experience, great atmosphere, great to be in the round,” Lee Pai told AAP. “Agueri didn't faze me. He was just throwing wild punches. There were a few that got stuck, but I was in control. But I'm going to take this and learn from it. All week. It was wonderful throughout.”
With AAP
