Olympians Harry Garside & Paulo Aokuso claim Australian titles

Harry Garside claimed the ANBF Australian lightweight title in just his second professional bout with a unanimous decision over Manuer Matet.

Garside, a Tokyo Olympian bronze medallist, was clinical with his shots, moving well side-to-side which forced his opponent to miss throughout the contest. Matet was happy to exchange and tried to take it to Garside, and had a fair bit of success of his own, especially as the bout went on but it was Garside who landed the better shots.

In the penultimate round, Garside rocked Matet with combinations of shots but Matet’s chin stayed strong and was able to see out the round and ultimately the fight.

The judges scored the bout unanimously 98-92, 99-91 and 98-92 all to Garside. An important 10-rounds for Garside in his second professional bout who showed his great conditioning by not sitting down between rounds.

“I’ve never sat down before. I never sat down in sparring. I have never sat down in a fight. I know this is the longest fight I have ever had but I’ve never understood sitting down. You never sit down during sparring. Most boxers don’t and I think when you sit down, your mind tells you you are going to stop so i have to stay up, keep my legs moving, especially against an opponent like Manuer who is coming at me and tough as nails,” Garside commented post-fight.

Another Tokyo Olympian, Paulo Aokuso was ruthless in his pro debut, dropping his opponent Michael Van Nimwegen inside the first round before putting on a boxing clinic, dropping his opponent numerous times en route to getting the fifth-round stoppage after Van Nimwegen’s corner threw in the towel.

 

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Aokuso claimed the ANBF light-heavyweight title with the win and in his post-fight speech called out all locally in the division.

A women’s bout between Ashleigh Sims and Shanell Dargan had the crowd on their feet by the end of the contest. Both were on their debut but didn’t take a backward step throughout the four-round contest. In the end, one just gave it to Dargan but the other two, couldn’t split it so it was awarded a majority draw. Expect a rematch in the near future.

Post bout, promoter George Rose praised both and awarded them a $5,000 bonus search.

The event took place at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney and the televised portion was broadcast live on Fox Sports Australia.

Full Results:

• Harry Garside def Manuer Matet via Decision (Unanimous)
• Paulo Aokuso def. Michael Van Nimwegen via TKO (Corner Stoppage), Rd 5
• Ashleigh Sims vs. Shanell Dargan – DRAW
• Hassan Hamdan def. Ryan Cotten via Decision (Unanimous)
• Alex Lual def. Aaron Kay via KO, Rd 2
• Blake Wells def. Renold Quinlan via Decision (Unanimous)
• Kate McLaren vs. Pam McClelland – DRAW
• Tyler Blizzard def. Daniel Harwood via Decision (Unanimous)