By Srithar Visuasam: In what has proven to be a sensation in recent years, Australia will get its own taste of tournament boxing this Friday night when the Australian Fight Series kicks off in Melbourne, Victoria.
Organized by Fight Card Promotions, the Australian Fight Series will pit eight of the best welterweights in the country to determine the premier 147lb fighter in Australia.
With tournaments like the Showtime’s Super Six Classic and England’s Prizefighter being hits with fans in recent years, it has illustrated that this style of boxing event / series can really be a recipe for success in the sport.
The Australian Fight Series works similarly to the above mentioned tournaments. In what could be considered a hybrid between the Super Six and Prizefighter tournaments, it has the multi-event side of the Super Six with the focus on local fighters with Prizefighter.
The tournament structure works as follows:
– The first round sees each of the eight welterweights fight a guaranteed four opponents, scheduled over four events which are staged at six week intervals, with the first event held on Friday 18 February 2011
– For each fight, a win will score the fighter 2 points, with a bonus point for a knockout. A draw will see each fighter receive 1 point
– The four fighters with the highest points total will progress to the semi finals, with first place on the ladder taking on the fourth and second versus third
– The two semi final winners will battle in the grand final to determine the champion which will be held on Friday 16 September 2011
The prize?
The winner will be crowned the Australian Fight Series champion with the finalists also competing for the IBO Asia Pacific Welterweight Title.
On top of that is the major opportunity to fight in the United States on a Fight Club OC card in December 2011, which is a partnership between Fight Card Promotions and Roy Englebrecht Promotions of California.
The Fighters:
The eight welterweights competing in the Australian Fight Series are:
Jimmy James (10-2-1, 2 KOs), VIC
Tim Hunt (8-2, 3 KOs), VIC
Rivan Cessaire (6-3, 2 KOs), VIC
Jason Kanofski (13-5-3, 2 KOs), QLD
Brad Hemming (13-8-1, 5 KOs), QLD
Todd Kidd (3-0, 1 KO), QLD
Matthew Paulley (19-6-5, 7 KOs), NSW
Alex Ahtong (4-9-3, 3 KOs), NSW
The first round bouts scheduled for this Friday are as follows:
Brad Hemming v Rivan Cessaire
Alex Ahtong v Jimmy James
Tim Hunt v Matthew Paulley
Jason Kanofski v Todd Kidd
The main event for this Friday’s card sees Frank LoPorto (13-4-2, 5 KOs) take on Kiwi Harry Venka (8-3-1, 1 KO) for LoPorto’s PABA light middleweight title. This is LoPorto’s first scheduled defense of the PABA title, since he captured the previously vacant title by defeating former world title challenger Daniel Dawson (35-3, 24 KOs) last October via unanimous points decision.
Other fighters on Friday night’s card include the undefeated former Olympian Jarrod Fletcher, Tevita Vakalalabure and Chad Roy Naidu.
Tickets for the Australian Fight Series event this Friday are still available and start from $70, which can be purchased from www.fightcardpromotions.com.au. The event is being held at the Atrium Room, Flemington Racecourse, Victoria.