Gembrook boxer ‘Lightning’ Luke Woodham (left) squares up against Zac Dunn in their topofthebill fight in the John Famechon Cup.By Ed Merrison
TECOMA Boxing Club came away from the John Famechon Cup with wins for two out of three fighters on the bill.
But the bad news for the day was the second successive defeat of Gembrook boxer ‘Lightning’ Luke Woodham at the hands of his main rival for the position of top State junior, Zac Dunn.
In their top-of-the-bill welterweight clash at the Reggio Calabria Club in Brunswick West on Sunday, 5 February, Mr Dunn got off to a fiery start against 17-year-old Mr Woodham, opening up a wide first-round margin that Mr Woodham gradually closed with some tidy boxing.
Mr Dunn kept up his intensity to the final bell, holding off Mr Woodham to accept the cup from former featherweight world champion John Famechon.
Mr Woodham said he felt better physically than he had when he and Mr Dunn last met in early December, but conceded that his opponent was better on the day.
Mr Woodham, who sits year 12 this year and expects to fight less frequently than in a busy 2005, will be competing again in a fortnight’s time and shows no sign of losing his focus on success in the ring.
“It just gets me more determined to win. I won’t give up,” he said.
Preceding Mr Woodham’s fight was a bruising contest between Boronia Football Club tagger Josh Eagle ‘Rocks’ and hard-hitting opponent Marcus Butera.
Mr Eagle came through when Mr Butera was disqualified in the final round for punching after the referee ordered the fighters to break.
Mr Eagle was knocked down in the first round and struggled to level the fight against the aggressive Butera, who was docked a point after recording four fouls.
But despite taking some powerful blows, Mr Eagle came out strongly in the final round and drew level on points after a series of good punches in a particularly tough exchange.
That exchange was to be the last of the contest, as Mr Butera caught his opponent with a powerful right after the fighters were told to disengage.
Mr Eagle was knocked to the canvas for the second time with a broken nose, leaving the referee with no option but to stop the fight and disqualify Mr Butera.
The damage to his nose has forced Mr Eagle to withdraw from the Thomastown YMCA Cup on Sunday, 26 February, allowing time for a brief rest before he returns to the football season with his record of a three wins in four fights intact.
Earlier on in the day, Upwey resident Josh ‘Captain Chaos’ Kamoen enjoyed strong support from relatives and members of the Upwey-Tecoma Football Club when he opened the proceedings for the Hills contingent with an exciting bout in the novice section.
In just his second fight, Mr Kamoen overcame Matt Kennedy in a wild middleweight clash, coming from a point behind coming into the last round to record a 18-16 win on points.
Fighting a day after he turned 23, Mr Kamoen said the experience of his November fight in Bairnsdale had taught him what to expect.
“Experience definitely helps. I tried to pick up the pace going into the final round, and thankfully it paid off,” he said.
