Goodman v Worawut, Hall v Scott in heavyweight showdown
Sam Goodman gambled his position as the number one contender to super-bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue, and nearly went bust after breaking his left hand against Chainoi Worawut.
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Sam Goodman gambled his position as the number one contender to super-bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue, and nearly went bust after breaking his left hand against Chainoi ‘Rock Man’ Worawut.
In front of his diehard hometown supporters in Wollongong, Goodman just needed to come up trumps against the massive outsider Worawut to lock in a world championship blockbuster against Inoue later this year.
But a broken left hand, suffered in round six, nearly derailed those plans.
Goodman claimed a hard-fought win with scores of 117-111, 117-113 and 119-109, with the Aussie saying he’ll be fine to challenge Inoue later this year.
“It shouldn’t put me out for too long,” Goodman said.
“We want The Monster, we’ll get this hand right. Let’s go.”
Goodman had been adamant all week that Worawut posed a bigger danger than anyone was giving him credit for, and the Albion Park fighter was forced to dig deeper than ever.
The judges’ scorecards didn’t reflect how tough the bout actually was.
Worawut was the most aggressive opponent Goodman had faced in years, and took the fight to the Wollongong local from the opening bell.
The Rock Man kept landing left hooks and straight rights in the second round too.
By the third, Goodman was timing Worawut’s shots and had found his range as his jab began to take effect.
The Aussie’s size and power advantage was evident as well.
While Goodman was moving and jabbing well, it was Worawut landing the more telling shots.
That was the story of the rest of the fight, with Goodman’s output much higher, but Worawut snapping Goodman’s head back several times per round.
Rock Man even showboated after the end of the fourth and fifth rounds.
Goodman’s corner grew increasingly concerned as the fight went into the final three rounds, as the Wollongong fighter clearly battled with the pain of his busted hand.
Meanwhile, the tireless Rock Man continued to dance before sitting down on his stool at the end of each frame.
Worawut’s corner was consistently warned for spilling water in their corner in between rounds, and once forced the referee to call a timeout to re-tape his gloves.
SCOTT ENDS HALL IN 30 SECONDS
Curtis Scott just ended Barry Hall’s boxing career for good, stopping the former Swans premiership winner inside one round.
Hall went down after just 20 seconds, but it wasn’t ruled a knockdown.
That didn’t bother Scott though, with the former NRL bad boy dropping Hall with a barrage of shots 20 seconds later. Again, it wasn’t ruled a knockdown, but a big right hand 70 seconds into the first round spelled the beginning of the end.
Hall went down for a third time, and this time was counted out.
“People underestimate my power,” he said.
“I’ll fight anyone. The Scott team’s here to stay.
“I fight above my weight every time I fight, so give me anyone.
“Sonny Bill makes sense, so let’s do that.’
FATHI DESTROYS MARKOVIC
Mounir Fathi has called for a rematch with Joel Pavlides after ringside officials were forced to step in and stop his super-welterweight bout with Anton Markovic.
Fathir sent Markovic to the canvas just 90 seconds into the first round of their six rounder.
Markovic bravely regained his feet and kept fighting, but was floored a second time barely 20 seconds later.
Clearly dazed, Markovic once again rose to his feet, and despite obviously being unsteady on his feet, was allowed to continue.
Fathi unleashed a barrage of hooks and uppercuts as Markovic struggled to defend himself, but referee Will Soulos didn’t stop it.
Eventually, the ringside doctor called a halt to the action, with inspector Angus Henderson blowing a whistle and forcing Soulos to finally stop it.
Mounir Fathi calls for a rematch with Joel Pavlides!! @telegraph_sport@cmail_sport@codesportsau@NoLimit_Boxingpic.twitter.com/lcySscZJuJ
— Brendan Bradford (@1bbradfo) July 10, 2024
It’s an emphatic comeback for Fathi, who lost a controversial decision to Joel Pavlides in November.
Fathi broke his hand early in his decision defeat to Pavlides after moving up to middleweight on short notice.
“I beat him, everyone can see, and from one hand,” Fathi told this masthead afterwards. “I want to send a message: Fight me in my division. Two rounds. In two rounds I’ll knock him out.
“I’ll fight him in his division with one hand.
“Guaranteed, fight in my division and I’ll knock him out in two rounds, brother.”
Earlier on the undercard, rising welterweight star Billy Polkinhorn scored a dominant unanimous decision win over Jordan Kasilieris in his second professional bout.
The Englishman dropped Kasilieris in the first and third rounds, but couldn’t quite find the stoppage.
Speaking to this masthead on Monday, Polkinghorn revealed he’s been sleeping on his mate’s couch in Brisbane for the last five months since moving from Perth.
He was desperately hoping to win by stoppage and claim a knockout bonus to move into his own place.
“I’m still on the couch,” he joked afterwards. “It keeps me hungry though.”
GRACH’S EMOTIONAL DEDICATION
Heavyweight slugger Brandon Grach made an emotional dedication after his thunderous third round knockout of John Maila.
Grach, who spent 12 years away from boxing before returning last year, sent Maila slumping to the canvas with 30 seconds left in the third round.
It’s his second consecutive highlight reel knockout, following his scary second round KO of Liam Talivaa in November.
A country boy who lives in Newcastle but has spent time in Tamworth, Grach dedicated the fight to two special people.
“Little Bailey, only eight years old in Tamworth and my good friend in a critical condition in Newcastle Hospital,” Grach told this masthead. “He’s a good boxing friend of mine. He’s a young boy as well and it’s tragic.
“I really wanted to dedicate this fight to those boys, they mean a lot to me.
“Everyone in Tamworth is family. It was illness, and little Bailey is only eight years old.”
While Grach needed just one perfect punch to stop Talivaa last year, this time around it was an accumulation after a three round firefight. But it was no less impressive.
Grach rattled Maila with a left hook to the ear followed by a massive straight right hand. The one-two combo left Maila sagging on the ropes, and a few follow-up shots sent him to the canvas with 27 seconds left in the third.
GLOVES DRAMA UNFOLDS
It wouldn’t be a PPV boxing event without a glove drama, and we’ve just had one backstage between Liam Wilson and Youssef Dib.
After Tuesday’s weigh-ins, their respective teams had agreed on which gloves they’d be wearing.
NIKITA TSZYU’S NEXT BOUT LOCKED IN
But now, just an hour before they’re due to step into the ring, there were heated arguments after Dib apparently wanted to switch to Cleto Reyes.
Discussions went back and forth, with No Limit officials getting involved as well.
It was eventually decided that Wilson and Dib would both lace on a pair of Everlasts for the lightweight clash.
GLOVE DRAMA: Glen Jennings, Billy Dib and Ben Harrington in heated backstage discussions about which gloves Liam Wilson and Youssef Dib will wear. https://t.co/O1vmSirOWTpic.twitter.com/RbpiVCPAnT
— Brendan Bradford (@1bbradfo) July 10, 2024
DARGAN’S DEADLY ENTRANCE
Shanell Dargan just put in a contender for best walkout of the night ahead of her super-bantamweight showdown with Pannaporn Kaewpawong.
The proud Wiradjuri and Mununjali woman was introduced with a performance by a group of Indigenous schoolkids, to massive cheers from the crowd.
She then walked to the ring to the hit song ‘For My Tittas’ by Indigenous female rapper Barkaa.
Shanell Dargan’s incredible walkout. Very cool. #boxingpic.twitter.com/PIqDXv3mTJ
— Brendan Bradford (@1bbradfo) July 10, 2024
After five hard-fought rounds, Dargan won a one-sided unanimous decision.
“It was so special to represent who I am and my people,” she said afterwards.
“She was tough as I knew she would be. I probably should’ve gone to the body a bit more, she’s a tough competitor.”
Dargan, who won the Australian super-bantamweight title last year, is gunning for a fight with veteran Shannon O’Connell later this year.
“Shannon’s the queen of Aussie boxing,” she said. “I want a couple more fights, a couple more fights then eventually get the opportunity to fight her.”
PRELIMS UNDER WAY
We’re underway in Wollongong with the first of 10 fights on the Goodman-Worawut undercard.
The first four fights are all on Kayo, before the pay-per-view begins at 7pm.
We’re at the fights. #GoodmanWorawutpic.twitter.com/HdeXHuayxH
— Brendan Bradford (@1bbradfo) July 10, 2024
Goodman vs Worawut
Sam Goodman (55.26kg) v Chainoi Worawut (55.08kg) — super bantamweight world title eliminator
Barry Hall (106.20kg) v Curtis Scott (94.04kg) — heavyweight
Liam Wilson (61.18kg) v Youssef Dib (61.62kg) — lightweight
Mounir Fathi (69.92kg) v Anton Markovic (69.70kg) — super welterweight
Brandon Grach (113.04kg) v John Maila (110.78kg) — heavyweight
Billy Polkinghorn (63.40kg) v Jordan Kasilieris (64.02kg) — super lightweight
PRELIMS
Liam Talivaa (103.58kg) v Johan Linde (103.86kg) — heavyweight
Shanell Dargan (54.36kg) v Pannaporn Kaewpawong (55.02kg) — super bantamweight
Amber Amelia (53.36kg) v Connie Brown (53.02kg) — bantamweight
Alessandro Grippa (70.52kg) v John Weetra (70.52kg) — super welterweight
BARRY HALL ON BABY WATCH
Barry Hall will step into the ring for his first boxing match in over two years on Wednesday night, but the former Swans legend is also officially on baby watch.
Hall and wife, Lauren Brant, are expecting the birth of their fourth child, which is due on Thursday.
The night earlier, Hall fights Curtis Scott in the co-main event of Sam Goodman’s high stakes bout with Chainoi ‘Rock Man’ Worawut.
BOXING: GOODMAN V WORAWUT | WBC Super Bantamweight World Title Eliminator | WED 10 JULY 7PM AEST | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports.
Hall’s team contemplated chartering a private jet to whisk him home to Queensland immediately after his fight, but the 47-year-old will instead be on the first plane out of Sydney airport on Thursday morning.
Hall’s last fight was a devastating first round knockout loss to Sonny Bill Willis, and he has packed on 10kg of pure muscle as he attempts to erase the painful memories of that night.
After a good build-up to his fight with Williams, everything started going wrong for the premiership-winning captain in fight week.
“This is about the time when stuff started to fall apart in that last fight,” Hall told this masthead on Monday. “It unravelled. Things weren’t right.
“There were doubts, nerves, all sorts of things. I thought I was good, I thought I was going to win, but a few things happened personally and it unravelled.”
Hall has since started seeing a mind coach to help work through some of those issues.
Despite admitting to being the last person you’d expect to see working with a psychologist, he says it’s been a huge help.
Especially when juggling fight prep with the impending arrival of a newborn.
“I was forced to see a mind coach, and at first I was sitting there rolling my eyes and saying I can’t wait to get out of there,” he said. “I wasn’t into it.
“But, once you get a bit more mature and a bit smarter I realised it’s something I could tap into.
“It might only be two per cent of your performance, but everything counts.
“So the differences between this one and the last one are stark. Massive. This time it’s all come together and my mind’s in a way better place.”
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