Friday night fights return to the Herb Graham Recreation Centre in Perth tomorrow as two of Australia’s best junior welterweight fighters clash in the headliner of Epic Muay Thai 17.
Making the journey across from Melbourne is Alexi Petroulias (27-13-2) who will be taking on local favourite Lloyd Dean (24-5-0) in a five round bout to close out an impressive 16-fight card featuring some of Western Australia’s top muay thai talent.
Trained by renowned former fighter Dareen ‘Riddler’ Reece out off the Riddlers Gym, Dean last fought in March of this year where he beat Jordan Godtfredsen in a potential fight of the year candidate at Epic Muay Thai 16. Coming back from a calf injury that kept him out of bout in May against Matt Cashmore, Dean will be looking to use his highly effective clinching skills and aggressive walk-forward style to get the edge over his tough Melbourne opponent.
Petroulias comes into the bout looking to get back into the winner’s circle, having not earned a win since August of 2015 when he beat Simon Coutsouvelis on Warriors Way. Despite the tough results on paper, Petroulias is very rarely outclassed and his recent bouts have been incredibly competitive, often testing the judge’s skills on the night. Petroulias last fought in March also, losing a unanimous points decision to Roy Wills in the main event of Rebellion 14.
The night’s semi-main event will feature an exciting matchup between young Perth-based Scottish fighter George Mann (27-5-0) and the experienced Tum Winner Muaythai Gym (104-22-6).
Having only recently turned 19, Mann is a skilled young fighter who likes to use his long reach and accurate push kicks to dominate his opponents. Now ranked as the number nine welterweight in the world by the World Boxing Council (WBC) in Muay Thai, Mann will be looking to use this opportunity to claim a high-level scalp and move further up the rankings. Mann last fought on the Eruption Muay Thai 8-man tournament in April, where he faced three opponents in one night before eventually dropping a split points decision in the final to the talented Ben Mahoney.
Mann’s opponent, the highly accomplished Thai Tum Winner Muaythai Gym (Sidyodtong) comes to Western Australia having just beaten Ogjen Topic in New York last month at Madison Square Garden to win the Triumph Kombat Lightweight Title. This follows on from his impressive performance on Lion Fight last year where he beat the high-level Gaston Bolanos for the Lion Fight World Title. Given his big fight pedigree and aggressive, yet composed style, it will be interesting to see how Mann tackles what is perhaps the biggest fight of his career.
Fight Card:
- Lloyd Dean vs Alexi Petroulias (VIC)
- George Mann vs Tum Winner Muaythai Gym (Thailand)
- Barrie Oliver vs. Ben Cant
- Tyler Hardcastle vs. Ric Pisaneschi
- Zac Einersen vs Timmy Tse (VIC)
- Jesse Woodhouse vs. Alan Ryan
- Nicola Collander vs. Maddie Duiker
- Eddie Duva vs. Suwat Siriwan
- Jimmy Grey vs. Josh Day
- Saskia Vaughan vs. Crystal Carlow
- Kerrianne McKay vs. Shannon Peek
- Whitney Tuna vs. Kirsty Meares
- Riley Anastas vs. Ben Osborne
- Damon Nelson vs. Michael Herbst
- Amanda Thomson vs. Sim Sehmi
- Beau Scarlett vs. Jake Brown
