Boxing bouts thrill crowd
ON February 27 1983, The Fiji Times published a story on a boxing match between local boxer Matereti Valu and Hawaii-based George Tanoa.
The report stated that gutsy Valu had the crowd of 5000 people at the National Gymnasium cheering for him but he just could not match Tanoa as he was knocked out in the 11th round.
Tanoa stormed back into the fight to retain the South Pacific junior middleweight title against the courageous Valu.
The fight exploded from the first bell, with both boxers intent on an early night.
Tanoa, with two-handed combinations, was building up a strong lead but Valu stayed in the running with some solid body and face punches in reply.
A barrage of punches in the sixth round forced referee Trevor Christian of the World Boxing Council (WBC) to give a standing eight count to the dazed Valu.
Tanoa took the seventh and eighth rounds comfortably but was given a rude shock in the following three-minute spell.
Valu, obviously in a “do or die” effort, had the crowd roaring as he hit Tanoa at will as the champion sagged on to the ropes.
Tanoa just managed to cling on to the fight in this round but stormed back in the tenth and dropped Valu, who again took an eight count.
Valu only survived the round after being saved by the bell.
The end came abruptly about a minute into the 11th round as Tanoa retained the title he took against Valu’s brother, Jo Nitiva, in January 1983.
In the main supporting bout over 10 rounds, Sakaraia Ve managed only a tame draw against Mexican Rafael Nunez in a slugging contest.
Ve, it appeared, might have found himself in trouble had the fight continued.
The Mexican took everything Ve threw and replied in kind as they slugged for 10 solid rounds.
The only disappointment of the night was the cancellation of two of the preliminary bouts and the refereeing displayed by George Ponipate.
Ponipate was booed by the crowd after the Sailasa Lesi - Ritchie Roberts fight and throughout the Ve Nunez encounter.
In a one-sided supporting bout, Australia’s Jeff Malcolm won on a seventh round on technical knockout over Fiji welterweight Pauliasi Ratu.
Malcolm, rated 11th by WBC, weaved under strong jabs of the tall Fijian to work out his moves in the early rounds.
He started stalking Ratu in the fourth round, countering with crisp jabs and hooks through the highheld guard.
He turned the pressure on in the fifth round but Ratu’s stinging jabs opened a cut above his right eyebrow.
Malcolm continued the attack in round six, pounding the already tired Ratu on to the ropes and it was the southpaw’s vicious lefts that decided Ratu’s fate.
In the middleweight supporting bout, Fiji champion Sailasa Lesi decked Ritchie Roberts of Australia with a thunderous right in the first for a mandatory count.
Lesi had Roberts’ nose bleeding in the second round and out-punched the Australian for the remaining two rounds before referee George Ponipate stopped the fight in the fourth for a Lesi victory.