Tevita Pangai Jr has survived a huge scare to narrowly win his first boxing fight since making the surprise call to retire from rugby league.
The former NRL forward took the footy world by surprise earlier this year when he decided to quit the Bulldogs mid-season to pursue a boxing career just after playing a State of Origin game for NSW.
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In just his third fight, Pangai Jr took on Frank Amato in a heavyweight bout that was undoubtedly the best fight on the ‘Battle on the Reef’ fight card in Townsville on Saturday night.
The clash went the full six rounds and turned into an epic slugfest as the pair traded blows.
Just as Pangai Jr or Amato looked out on their feet, they stayed upright and kept throwing punches and showing off their granite chins.
Pangai Jr was awarded the victory via majority decision (57-57, 58-56, 59-56) to take his record to 3-0.
“That was a hell of a fight,” Michael Zerafa said on Stan Sport.
“Credit to both boys. They both have granite chins.
“I thought it could have gone either way. It was a close contest.
“The better man won tonight and the talk’s real.”
Pangai Jr said he would welcome a rematch with Amato and also called out Sydney heavyweight Jackson Murray, who has sparred with UFC star Francis Ngannou.
“He was a tough opponent. I want a re-match,” Pangai Jnr said.
“Sometimes you can’t get the knockout, but I got the win and I want the re-match.
“I showed I have the Tongan chin of granite. Nothing can put me down.
“I will prove the doubters wrong. I don’t have an amateur background. I will be back in the gym. When others are partying, I will be training.
“Fitness is No.1. I have skill and toughness but I need to work on my fitness.”
It was hardly the dominant performance Pangai Jr would have wanted given he had plenty of eyes on him following his decision to walk out on his rugby league career.
But after showing grit and determination to go the distance and get the victory, the 27-year-old still wants to prove himself in the sport of boxing.
Former NRL hardman James Graham said on Stan: “I think it’s a bit of a realisation that this new dream, it’s got a lot of work to go into it as well.
“(There are) movement patterns that Tevita needs to bring into his game if he’s going to go all the way in this.”
In the main event, Paulo Aokoso defeated Gabriel Omar via majority decision but won’t get the IBO Intercontinental Light-Heavyweight title and a top 10 world ranking because he weighed in 2kg over.
Elsewhere on the fight card, a host of current NRL stars and former players stepped into the boxing ring, many for the first time.
Justin Hodges edged out Matt Cooper, Junior Paulo destroyed Ben Hannant in a refereeing farce, Nelson Asofa-Solomona beat Jarrod Wallace and Reagan Campbell-Gillard defeated Jason Taumalolo.
9.31pm - TPJ wins absolute war
Tevita Pangai Jr has narrowly won his first fight since quitting rugby league.
The former Bulldog took on Frank Amato in an epic slugfest that was clearly the fight of the night.
Pangai Jr and Amato traded blows over the six rounds and just as they looked out on their feet, they stayed upright and kept throwing punches.
Pangai was awarded the victory via majority decision (57-57, 58-56, 59-56) to take his record to 3-0.
He said he wants a rematch and also called out heavyweight Jackson Murray.
8.49pm - Storm monster wins
Melbourne Storm enforcer Nelson Asofa-Solomona has claimed his first victim in the ring, defeating Dolphins prop Jarrod Wallace via knockout.
In his boxing debut, Asofa-Solomona looked a class above, knocking Wallace down with just his second punch.
To his credit, Wallace recovered to fight on but his corner threw in the towel in the second round when he got sat down with a heavy punch.
8.18pm - Paulo drops Ben Hannant cold
Junior Paulo has knocked out former Bronco and Cowboy Ben Hannant within the first round in a complete mismatch.
The Parramatta Eels prop possesses serious power and dropped Hannant with a brutal right hand after 30 seconds.
Hannant could barely get to his feet, but the referee let the fight to continue, allowing Paulo to drop Hannant.
Paulo landed countless blows on Hannant, before his corner threw in the towel late in the first round.
Stan Sport commentator Andy Raymond said: “Somebody stop this. He struggled to get to his feet and he’s going to get hurt if they allow this to continue.
“The towel has finally come in and it’s too late. This is the part of boxing I absolutely hate.
“There’s nothing worse than a brave corner or a referee who can’t control what’s happening.
“These aren’t professional boxers fighting for million dollar purses. These are rugby league guys having a crack in a boxing ring. That is crap.
Australian heavyweight Demsey McKean said: “He’s not on steady legs. I think we’d seen enough after that first knockdown.
“It just goes to show just how much power Junior has.”
Michael Zerafa said: “That was a poor decision by the referee. He was out on his feet and he couldn’t even walk straight.
“This is why some fighters get serious, permanent injuries. We put them charge and sadly they don’t call the right shorts.”
7.50pm - Hodges beats Cooper in battle of NRL greats
Justin Hodges has defeated St George Illawarra and NSW great Matt Cooper via unanimous decision in the first of the NRL fights.
It was Cooper’s first pro boxing fight but Hodges couldn’t take advantage to land a knockout blow in an uneventful contest.
Hodges called out Sonny Bill Williams afterwards, declaring he has one fight left in his 41-year-old body.
“I heard Sonny Bill is looking for one more fight so why not, if it’s one more fight let’s make it big,” Hodges said on Stan Sport.
“The old boy might have one more fight, we’ll see.”
6.45pm - Austin Aokuso wins inside a minute
Austin Aokuso has taken his record to 6-0 after a KO win over Filimoni Naliva Jr after just 58 seconds.
Aokuso didn’t land any particularly heavy blows but Naliva Jr was brought down to his knees and couldn’t continue.
He said he might have to move down a weight division to take on more competitive fighters.
“That was the plan but I was hoping for a bit more resistance,” Aokuso said.
“It looks like I might have to make my way down to light-heavies and fight in between light heavies and fight in between light-heavies and cruiserweight just to get more opponents.
“I was very disappointed with that one. I’m 6-0 now. God willing that I keep going the way I’m going.”
Stan Sport commentator Andy Raymond said: “Not the type of fight we wanted to see start tonight. That’s really disappointing.
“Anyone who jumps in the ring has got my respect. But he didn’t get hit with anything of note. There was nothing clean there. It was just a kill.”
6pm - Mundine takes bizarre swipe at TPJ
Anthony Mundine has taken a swipe at Tevita Pangai Jr the day ahead of his first pro boxing fight.
After Pangai Jr posted a cheeky video, the NRL legend and former boxing world champion responded on Instagram.
Mundine had been an advocate of Pangai Jr, but the 48-year-old didn’t take kindly to the claim he isn’t the “GOAT”.
“Listen, you know I’m an advocate for chasing your dreams, right? You have to chase your dreams,” Mundine said.
“With everything I achieved, I chased my dreams. I dreamt, I chased it with everything I had, I was obsessed with it.
“Tevita Pangai Junior he’s saying he wants to be like The Man or beat The Man. Man, you have to be a special brother to (do) what I’ve done, brother.
“I mean, you’ve done the league part. I was still getting paid higher than what you was on back in ‘97 – that’s another story.
“Come on bruh. You’ve got to step up baby. Let’s see you win one title then come see me. You’re in the conversation – maybe, maybe, maybe.”
In another video, Mundine claimed he was Australia’s greatest sportsperson ever, better than Don Bradman, Evonne Goolagong Cawley and Dawn Fraser.
“I am number one. There’s no one better than me,” said.
“I was at the top of two sports, two of the most hardest sports ever. There’s no one better, not in Australia, not in the world.”
Pangai Jr reposted Mundine’s video with several cry laughing emojis.
It’s a strange turn of events given it was thought Mundine was part of Pangai’s camp and might have been at the fight to support him.
FULL FIGHT CARD RESULTS
6.45pm - Austin Aokuso def Filimoni Naliva Jr via Round 1 KO - cruiserweight
7.20pm - Jermaine Pangai def Nepote Dawadawa via KO - heavyweight
7.45pm - Justin Hodges def Matt Cooper via unanimous decision heavyweight
8.10pm - Junior Paulo def Ben Hannant via Round 1 KO
8.30pm - Nelson Asofa-Solomona def Jarrod Wallace via KO - heavyweight
More Coverage
8.55pm - Tevita Pangai Junior def Frank Amato via majority decision (57-57, 58-56, 59-56) -heavyweight
9.30pm - Jason Taumalolo (116.5kg) v Reagan Campbell-Gillard via split decision (29-28 x 2, 28-29) - heavyweight
10pm - Paulo Aokuso def Gabriel Omar Diaz via majority decision (95-95, 98-92, 97-94) - light heavyweight
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