Morgan secures knockout finish to year
The perfect end to a successful year.
That’s how Bowyn Morgan’s trainer, Phil Shatford, summed up his fighter’s finish to 2017 following a career-best performance that came with a knockout victory on Friday night.
Morgan’s brutal defeat of Stevie Ferdinandus means the IBO Asia Pacific welterweight belt now resides in Canterbury.
The victory, in front of a vocal home crowd at the Hornby Working Men’s Club in Christchurch, lifts Morgan to second in the New Zealand pound-forpound ratings behind WBO world heavyweight champion Joseph Parker.
Shatford said to finish the year with a shiny new belt that represents a significant step up the pathway towards the top of the welterweight division, was a deserving result for Morgan.
‘‘I see what Bowyn puts into this behind the scenes with his training and the dedication he has so I understand more than most how much he deserves the success.
‘‘He’s never worked so hard as what he did in camp before this fight,’’ Shatford said.
Shatford described Morgan’s brutal victory over Ferdinandus as the best moment of his training career in the professional ranks.
Before the fight, a confident Shatford was predicting Ferdinandus would be heading home via Disneyland - he wasn’t far wrong.
Morgan, a former Commonwealth Games representative, dropped Ferdinandus in the second round.
To his credit, Ferdinandus beat the count and tried to remain in the contest but it was short-lived.
A vicious left hand in the third round send Ferdinandus back to the canvas and he never looked like getting up before referee Kevin Pyne counted him out.
Morgan (14-1), who also holds the NZNBF welterweight and the IBO super welterweight belts, is unbeaten through five fights in 2017.
Like his trainer, Morgan, New Zealand’s No 1-ranked welterweight boxer, also delivered on his pre-fight prediction that Ferdinandus would not withstand his power punches for 10 rounds.
Just a couple hours after Morgan’s victory, NZPBA super welterweight champion Shay Brock lost by unanimous decision to Australian Dwight Ritchie in Melbourne.
On Saturday night, former New Zealand cruiserweight boxing champion James Langton defeated Isileli Fa in a heavyweight contest in Hawera.