The main event of the evening saw Ryan Daye score a stunning highlight reel KO over Fano Kori to capture WBC Gold.
The card also saw undefeated fighters Jude Grant and Josh Byrne impress once again, as well as fan favourite Joel Lewis bouncing back from his first defeat.
Ryan Daye defeats Fano Kori
In the headline fight, Ryan Daye scored a huge knockout victory against Fano Kori in what was an extremely back and forth encounter between the two men.
Debuting in 2022, Ryan Daye had burst onto the Perth boxing scene and rose up the ranks quickly. Taking his opponents resume into consideration, this fight against Kori was most definitely his toughest to date.
But on the night, the Aussie passed that test in stunning fashion.
The fight started off very calculated with both fighters looking for openings, Daye looked to counter his opponent who was the more aggressive fighter.
The aggression from Kori carried over into the second round. Despite establishing a strong jab early, Daye struggled to find his timing against the awkward fighter.
Kori on the other hand was timing Daye well, as he was correctly picked his shots and entered into range at the right time.
Daye took control in the third round, as his jab had more of an impact. Although Kori landed some hard punches, Daye stood his ground and covered up nicely.
For the fourth and fifth rounds, the action was very back and forth.
Being the much more polished boxer, Daye continued to use his superior footwork to his advantage, as Kori kept up his wild onslaught of hard power shots that would land on multiple occasions.
As Kori would land the more damaging shots, many fans in attendance were wondering how the fight was being scored by the judges at ringside.
Kori landed multiple hooks to the body to start the sixth round. Although Kori was still aggressive, it was clear to see that he was slowing down.
Despite the onslaught from his opponent, Daye remained composed as the fight entered the seventh, making this bout with Kori the longest of his career so far.
After yet another trade off in the seventh round, Daye staggered Kori with a big right hand with thirty seconds to go. As Kori tried to move away, Daye connected with a huge right cross that sent his opponent crashing to the canvas.
Kori was unable to answer the count of ten, giving Daye the highlight KO win.
After the fight it was reported that Daye was down on the judges’ scorecards, having only won two rounds before the start of the seventh.
The come from behind KO victory for the Aussie moved his undefeated record to 5-0, whilst awarding him the WBC Silver Australasian Super Welterweight title.
With a WBC title in the bag early into his career the future looks bright for Ryan Daye, who has become the second man to beat Fano Kori inside the distance.
Joel Lewis defeats Habib Kherikhah
In the co-main event, Joel Lewis defeated Habib Kherikhah in devastating fashion in the third round to capture the WBC Silver Australasian Super Lightweight title.
Coming into the fight, Lewis had suffered his first defeat against Mahdi Sarbaz in Bangkok two months prior. Needing a statement win, Lewis was matched up against a familiar foe in Habib Kherikhah and the Perth native delivered with yet another spectacular performance.
The fight started off very slow. Lewis showed a lot of discipline in his approach by using feints to make Kherikhah enter the pocket, while finding the right time to explode with power shots.
Lewis started to utilise his jab and uppercut more in the second round, as Kherikhah started to press the action in a wild manner.
Despite the pressure from his opponent, Lewis was able to still be effective whilst maintaining his distance.
After 30 seconds of the third round, Kherikhah ran into a huge counter right hand that sent him crashing to the canvas.
Although Kherikhah answered the count, Lewis finished the fight with a barrage of punches which prompted the referee to stop the fight.
The win for Lewis moves his record to 5-1, in what was a great way to respond to his first professional loss
Josh Byrne defeats Bima Prakosa
Earlier in the night, Josh Byrne was victorious in his second professional fight by defeating Bima Prakosa.
After easily winning his debut fight against Mitch Arnold three months prior, Byrne looked to stay active in the Perth boxing scene by taking a fight with international opponent Bima Prakosa.
Although the Indonesian showed a lot of heart and toughness, It was simply not enough to deal with the Big Rig’s fighter.
The first round started off aggressively with Byrne pushing the action. Prakosa was able to find a home for his right hook in the early goings, but it did little to affect the Aussie.
Towards the end of the round, Byrne does a good job of roughing up Prakosa with vicious body shots.
Prakosa started to show signs of fatigue in the second round. With the pace of the fight starting to slow down, Byrne started to find a home for his punches on his unbalanced opponent.
The feeling in the arena was that Byrne was going to finish his opponent easily in the third round, however that was not the case.
Although he was clearly losing the bout, Prakosa threw everything he had at his Aussie opponent. For the next two rounds Byrne threw multiple head and body punches, but Prakosa refused to go down as the fight shockingly went the distance.
Despite Prakosa’s brave effort Josh Byrne secured a lopsided unanimous decision victory.
The victory for Byrne moves his professional record to 2-0. Although the fight was tougher than most expected, it is still good to see the 18-year-old get four more rounds as he moves forward in his career.
Jude Grant defeats Benny Tamaela
Jude Grant maintained his perfect record as he defeated Benny Tamaela, in what was the second stoppage victory of his boxing career.
Coming off his third state title win, Grant stayed in his preferred weight class to take on the first international opponent in Benny Tamaela.
The fight started off with Tamaela attempting to rough up his opponent, but Grant was able to use his reach well as he attacked the Indonesian with hard punches to the body.
The second round commenced with the Aussie pressing his opponent onto the ropes. Although Tamaela would try to swing his way out of the corner, Grant would always be at the perfect range to move out of danger and punish his opponent with counters
After a well-timed right cross Tamaela covered up and fell to the canvas. Grant tried to close the show but the Indonesian was able to survive.
The third round saw Tamaela desperately swinging at Grant with no balance, whilst the Aussie was connecting at will.
As the round went on, Tamaela started to break down and after Grant landed a flurry of shots against his cradling opponent, the referee stopped the fight declaring Grant the winner by TKO.
With yet another impressive win under his belt, it is only a matter of time until Perth’s golden boy gets a shot over east or perhaps even overseas.
Credit: Harry’s Gym
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