By Bryce Wilson –Arena Manawatu, Saturday June 13th.

Undercard – Polish heavyweight Izu Ugonoh 12(10)-0 improved his unbeaten record with a rough and tumble unanimous 8 round decision against 6 foot 10 Julius Long. Ugonoh came out pumping the jab against the much taller heavier Long, hurting the veteran to body in the 2nd and 3rd rounds. A HUGE right hand floored Long in the 4th that he did well to recover from going into survival mode for the rest of the round. The action slowed a little in the 5th and 6th as both men had their moments. Ugonoh closed the fight strongly using an effective jab and hard body shots to cruise to a comfortable decision.

Rising Aussie welterweight sensation Jeff Horn 10(8)-0 scored an impressive 3rd round TKO against Ghanaian Richmond Djarbeng who falls to 20(15)-3-1 with the loss. Using angles and throwing sharp left and right hands, Horn had Djarbeng in trouble right from the opening bell. He put the Ghanaian on the canvass in the 2nd and finished him in the 3rd, Djarbeng either unwilling or unable to continue from a 3rd knockdown. It was an impressive win for Horn who looks sure to take Djarbeng’s ranking spot and looks set for big things in the next 12 months.

In the main event highly touted heavyweight Joseph Parker 14(12)-0 destroyed German heavyweight Yakup Saglam 34(31)-4 in just over 1 brutal round of action. Measuring the German in the 1st round with a stiff jab and right and left hands to the body Parker landed a HUGE right hand at just at the beginning of the 2nd round to signal the end to the fight. It once again served to illustrate the growing one punch power of the fats emerging heavyweight.

After a brief rest Parker and his team are looking at a quick turnaround fighting again on August 1st.