Hussein brothers record knockout wins

By Paul Upham: Team Fenech’s Hussein brothers Nedal and Hussein both recorded knockout wins on Friday night on promoter Kieran O’Connor’s “Respect 3…The Eliminator” card at the Octagon, Randwick Racecourse in Sydney.
WBU super-bantamweight champion Nedal “Skinny” Hussein, 23-1 (13), headlined the card and recorded a second round knockout of Thailand’s Phongsak Pha-or, 10-2 (4). Hussein started strongly behind his jab in the first round before starting to punish the body of his game opponent with his trademark body rips. The end came at 1:10 of the second round with Hussein landing two brutal left hooks, flooring his opponent who was unable to beat the referee’s count.

“We have had a lot of distractions over the last month. We were supposed to fight tomorrow in Washington, but with the planes going down it wasn’t safe for us to go to the USA. Thank you to Kieran O’Connor who put us on this card on a weeks notice,” said Nedal Hussein.

“Hopefully we can comeback again next month if Kieran can put us on.”

Earlier in the evening, older brother WBO No.2 flyweight Hussein Hussein,17-0 (14), recorded a first round knockout of Rung Makate, 11-9 (3), from Thailand. Landing his left jab early, Hussein had his opponent on the back foot, opening him up for some brutal body rips which felled the Thai, who was counted out at 1:35 of the first round.

“That’s the name of the game, hit and not get hit and I don’t want to get hit at all. As long as I keep fighting as often as I can and thanks to Kieran O’Connor for putting us on at such late notice,” said Hussein Hussein.

“I just have to keep working, doing things properly, learning my technique and hopefully things will come along.”

“He’s getting better and better. We spoke about doing a few things today and he went out and did them so smoothly. I’m really proud of him,” said trainer and manager Jeff Fenech. “Hopefully by the end of the year we will have signed a contract for ‘Hussy’ to fight for the world title and that’s what we are really looking for.”

In the main support bout, heavyweight Kali Meehan, 24-1 (19), made a successful return to the ring after his first loss in England, when he stopped former Lennox Lewis opponent Justin Fortune, 15-8-2 (8), by TKO at 0:58 of the third round.

Australian cruiserweight champion Daniel Rowsell, 16-1-2 (6), won the PABA cruiserweight title by defeating Paul Smallman, 17-13-1 (11), by unanimous points decision 117-113, 119-111 and 118-110.

Jason De Lisle, 6-0-2 (4), won a split points decision over Peter Kariuki, 3-1-1 (3), at light-heavyweight over six rounds 57-56, 58-57 and 56-58; Simon Patterson, 4-1 (2), won a majority points decision over Peter Graham, 1-3, at heavyweight over six rounds 57-57, 58-57 and 59-57. Team Fenech’s Danny Green, 3-0 (3), won by TKO2 against Manueli Delatabua, 3-2 (2), of Fiji at super-middleweight, and Team Fenech’s Rubin Rabah won his professional debut by TKO3 over Mick Kilmurry at lightweight.

There was a good crowd in attendance with WBC and WBA 140lbs champion Kostya Tszyu, former heavyweight contender Joe Bugner, IBF No.4 junior middleweight Nader Hamdan, IBF No.4 featherweight Robbie Peden, WBC No.8 welterweight Julian Holland and Shannan Taylor present.

In Sydney to appear in the film “Matrix 2”, undisputed light-heavyweight champion Roy Jones Jr was a special guest of promoter Kieran O’Connor and three-time world champion Jeff Fenech.

“It’s a great honour for all my boxers to have Roy Jones Jr here in Australia,” said Fenech. “Roy, we are really proud to have you here in Australia, thank you very much.”


Paul Upham
Contributing Editor