Geale Destroys McKillop, But Zappavigna Steals The Show
By Anthony Cocks at ringside, DoghouseBoxing.com (Mar 12, 2009)  
IBO middleweight champion Daniel Geale 21-0 (13) made short work of late replacement Ian McKillop 25-11-3 (14), stopping him in the first round of a scheduled ten round bout at The Cube in Campbelltown, Sydney, Australia on Wednesday night.

But it was undefeated IBF Pan Pacific junior welterweight champion Leonardo Zappavigna 18-0 (13) who stole the show with a twelve round shutout of highly credentialed Australian-based Guyanan Gairy St Clair 41-9-2 (18).

St Clair, who briefly held the IBF super featherweight title in 2006, was simply no match for the naturally bigger Zappavigna, who started fast and never let his foot off the gas until the final bell.

Zappavigna was in fine physical form as he piled on the pressure, cutting off the ring effectively and sustaining a vicious body attack throughout the contest.

Despite his superior experience, St Clair was never able to get into the fight and as the rounds progressed he became increasingly defensive minded. Overall it was a very polished performance from Zappavigna, who must now be considered Australia’s leading prospect.

Judge Garry Dean scored the bout 120-107, while Darren Jones had it 120-108. Only judge Pat O’Connor was able to find a round for St Clair, scoring it 119-109.
In the main event Daniel Geale showed his class in demolishing Canadian Ian McKillop in the opening stanza. Fighting above the middleweight limit, the 28-year-old Sydney-based Tasmanian unleashed a flurry of punches that sent McKillop to the canvas and ended the fight at the 1:58 mark.

McKillop, who is best known in this country for stopping former world title challenger Shannan Taylor in six rounds in 2006, was simply outgunned by the classy Geale. It was McKillop’s fourth stoppage loss in his last five fights.

Geale is now set to fight former WBA super middleweight titleholder Anthony Mundine on May 27.

Billy Dib 22-1 (11) got back in the winner’s circle after his twelve round decision loss to Steven Luevano for the WBO featherweight title last year with an eighth round technical decision win over Davey Browne 15-1-1 (4).

Dib was in control and leading on two of the scorecards when an accidental clash of heads opened up a cut near Browne’s left eye and prematurely ended the fight. Final scores were 69-65 and 68-65 both for Dib, 67-66 for Browne.

At heavyweight former rugby league star Solomon Haumono 15-0-1 (14) scraped through the toughest test of his career with a spit draw over ten rounds against experienced campaigner Colin Wilson, 34-24-1 (20).

Haumono struggled to mount any sustained offence against Wilson and seemed to have problems with the 36-year-old Emerald coalminer’s southpaw stance. Scores were 96-95 Wilson, 96-94 Haumono and 95-95.

Also on the card welterweight Solomon Egberime 18-2 (9) won a six round decision over Moses Seran 20-12 (10) by scores of 59-55 and 60-54 twice.







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