In what was a big morning for Australian boxing, Alex Leapai proved no match for the best heavyweight in the world as Ukrainian Wladimir Klitschko extended his unbeaten run to 20 fights with a fifth round TKO finish. The morning was a lot more successful for Lucas Browne (pictured) who captured the vacant Commonwealth title.
We start our recap over in Germany where Leapai took on Klitschko which took place at the Koenig Pilsener Arena in Oberhausen, Germany early Sunday morning and was televised live via pay-per-view on Mainevent.
In the opening round, Klitschko was quickly able to take control utilising his jab and an early slip from Leapai was deemed a knockdown by referee Eddie Cotton.
As the fight went on, Leapai struggled to close the distance and land the heavy hands his known for. Klitschko continued to pump out jab after jab and rocked the father of six in the second round. A calm and composed Klitschko continued his patient barrage and in the fifth round landed a big one-two to put Leapai on the canvas. Leapai got back to his feet but Klitschko immediately went for the finish, landing a shot that sent Leapai falling backwards through the ropes.
The referee immediately chose to end the contest. Nicknamed ‘Dr Steelhammer’, Klitschko with the win took his professional record to 62-3, with 52 of those wins coming via stoppage. The 38 year-old has not lost since 2004.
According to Compubox stats, Klitschko landed a total of 147 punches in the contest compared to Leapai’s 10.
Leapai promised to return in his post-fight speech, “We were trying to get inside, Wladimir was sticking the jab out. It didn’t work tonight but we’re going to get back in the gym and work on a few things. I’ll be back,” the 34 year-old Leapai said. Leapai drops to 30-5-3 as a professional.
Also on the card, undefeated New Zealand prospect moved his record to 8-0, with a seventh round TKO over Brazilian fighter Marcelo Luiz Nascimento.
Former Australian mixed-martial arts fighter Lucas Browne moved his professional record to 20-0 as he became the first Australian in 122 years to win the Commonwealth heavyweight title. Browne secured a fifth round stoppage over Canadian Eric Martel Bahoeli.
The Ricky Hatton managed fighter headlined the event held at Ponds Forge Arena in Sheffield, United Kingdom. It was live to Australia viewers on Europsport Australia.
The fight did look to be in danger of getting stopped in the third round as an accidental clash left a decent size cut over the left eye of Browne. The heavy-handed Browne knocked down Bahoeli in the 2nd and 4th rounds, but a courageous Bahoeli beat the count and attempted to fight back. A big right followed but an uppercut from Brown in the fifth round finished the contest off.
The 35 year-old Sydney based fighter took up boxing after starting his fighting career inside the cage, competing in mixed martial arts where he went 6-2. A successful switch five years ago to boxing, now has the Te Huna trained fighter set to take on the world’s best heavyweights.
