Strong up and comer Indigo Boyd faces a challenge of mammoth proportions on Saturday night as he steps up to take on the Victorian muay thai veteran Alexi Petroulias in the main event of Warriors Way 20 at the Doncaster Shopping Town Hotel.
Without a win since August of 2015, Petroulias returns to centre ring looking to capture that winning feeling once more and show those in attendance why he is still considered one of the best lightweight muay thai fighters not only in Victoria but Australia as well. Coming off a very close decision loss to the tough Lloyd Dean on Epic 17 back in July in Perth, Petroulias will look to assert his technical dominance early on and dictate the terms in which the fight is fought on.
Take a deeper look into the last two year’s worth of fights for Petroulias and you will see that he has fought some of the toughest lightweights in the country, and while often not getting the desired decision, constantly pushes his opponents to a decision. With 43 fights to his name, Petroulias is one of the most experienced fighters Victoria has at the moment and it could very well be a tall order for Boyd to disrupt the predicted narrative on the night.
Not one to shy away from the challenge, however, Boyd comes into the main event riding a wave of momentum with four wins from four fights this year alone. Petroulias represents a much tougher level of opponent than Boyd has grown accustomed to, and he will be up against it right from the opening bell. Confidence in his abilities and the strength of his training this year will be the x-factor in this bout, and with nothing to lose Boyd could be well primed to pull off one of the upsets of the year.
The night’s supporting semi-main event is an enticing matchup between one of Australia’s greatest ever bantamweight fighters Brodie Stalder and the incredibly experienced Thai fighter Nai Sinbi. Stalder returns to Melbourne for the third time in a little over 13 months as he looks to show why he is still considered a force to be reckoned with after such a long and distinguished fight career. With 76 bouts to his name and continually improving at the age of 28, Stalder will not be concerned with Nai’s near 450 fight record. Coming off a close decision loss to Thai Gen Hongthonglek in May at Rebellion 15, Stalder will be looking to add another win to his record and cement his status as a fan favourite in Melbourne.
Another local fan favourite is River Daz who will be stepping up to fight the experienced New Zealand fighter Joey Baylon over five rounds in one of the night’s main supporting bouts. Baylon returns to Melbourne after only fighting two weeks ago on Alpha Fight Series, heading back home with a decision loss to Ramesh Habib. Daz will have his hands full, as Baylon is a strong fighter with an aggressive walk forward approach that is well suited to fighters of a similar physical build. The fight presents Daz with a great opportunity to crack into the next tier of muay thai fighters in Australia as he begins the transition from a dominant amateur into the professional ranks.
The 20th edition of Warriors Way features a stacked 13-fight card and is the promotion’s last show for the year after a highlight filled 2017.
Fight Card:
- Alexi Petroulias vs. Indigo Boyd
- Brodie Stalder vs. Nai Sinbi (Thailand)
- River Daz vs. Joey Baylon (New Zealand)
- Quan Trinh vs Sulaiman Hashemi
- Clem Taylor vs Ben Higgins
- Daniel Stroud vs Joel Burum
- Van Phan vs Rishi Chisholm
- Jay Dalli vs Jaan Fallows
- Matthew Eade vs Sean Gabb
- Kate Van Staveren vs. Raine Dickens
- Grant Ring vs Ryan Cawley
- Liam Martin vs. Michael Bacalja
- Matthew Wilson vs Kore Ormsby
