Zappavigna Stays Unbeaten With Points Win At Club Marconi

By Paul Upham at ringside: Australian lightweight prospect Lenny Zappavigna kept his undefeated record with a ten round unanimous points decision over Leon Maratas from the Philippines, winning the vacant IBO Asia Pacific title on Friday night at Club Marconi in Bossley Park, NSW, headlining a well promoted card by Billy Hussein and Tommy Mercuri.

“I give him a lot of credit, he gave me a good fight,” Zappavigna said of Maratas. “You can’t knock everybody out and I got ten rounds in. This was a good experience for me.”

20 year-old Zappavigna 15-0 (11), who won a bronze medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, is considered one of Australia’s best young hopes for future world title honours.

Dressed in black trunks with white trim, Zappavigna’s punching was fast and crisp in the early rounds, as he mixed up his combinations and went to the body with both hands.

On a few occasions 21 year-old Maratas 8-5 (3), in white trunks with black trim, managed to duck down just out of the way of Zappavigna’s fierce right hand, parting his hair.

Coming off some intense sparring in South Africa, in round 3, Zappavigna received a bad cut over his left eyelid, below his eyebrow. Ringside doctor Inach Mehmet inspected the bloody cut and allowed the fight to continue. Referee Anthony Shipley ruling it was caused by an accidental head clash.

Zappavigna’s corner kept encouraging their boxer to throw his left uppercut in close, which was piercing its way through Maratas’ wide defence.

A right hand at the end of round 4 hurt Maratas and had him floating high on his heels. A follow-up combination saw the Filipino hit the canvas and the referee counted for a knockdown. Maratas regaining his feet as the bell rang.

While he maintained complete control of the fight throughout, after round 6 Zappavigna slowed his pace slightly, which allowed Maratas to last the distance

The judges scored the fight for Zappavigna unanimously, 100-89, 100-89 and 99-90.

In the main support bout at light heavyweight, the passionately supported Zac “Shaker” Awad 8-0 (3), came into the ring carrying plenty of extra weight around his mid section. The undefeated 27 year-old had weighed in at 182.5lbs on Thursday evening. For his previous fight on March 7, Awad had weighed only 162.75lbs.

The taller, stronger Casey was not equipped to deal with the superior punching technique of Awad, who has trained for many years under Billy Hussein. His right hand exploded like a cannon when it landed. Casey was dropped in round 3 with a right hand, but then struggled with his fitness, taking round four off completely. A series of right hands in round 5 saw Awad regain control of the fight, but he struggled with heavy breathing to the final bell.

The judges scoring a majority points decision to Awad, 59-54, 57-57 and 58-56.

After the win, a line of supporters banging on drums carried Awad on their shoulders back to his dressing room. Which was fortunate, Awad was so tired after the demanding win, he may not have been able to make it back by walking himself.

In the opening bout of the night, local junior welterweight crowd pleaser Charlie Vella received a questionable TKO loss when he was stopped whilst still on his feet. Vella had beaten Omongos on points in November 2006 and they traded toe to toe at the end of round 2, in a thrilling fight. Vella was then involved in his almost obligatory accidental head clash at the beginning of round 3, a cut on his right eyebrow spurting blood.

Later that round, there was a controversial stoppage of the fight at the 2:54 minute mark by referee Mick Heafey. Vella had been backed into a neutral corner, with his hands up protecting his head. While he was not throwing anything back in return for a number of seconds, a lesson now learned, he didn’t appear hurt either and protested the stoppage, along with his corner.

“I was still fighting, but what can you do?” asked Vella “I beat him before and I know I could beat him again. The referee thought I was taking too many punches with my cut and he was just looking after my best interests.”

A third fight between Vella and Omongos televised on Fox Sports would not be out of place.