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ASOTASI EDGES TUPOU IN AUCKLAND
Monday 7 October 2002
In a match-up of heavy hitters local-born crowd favourite Frank Asotasi scored a unanimous decision win over fellow New Zealander David Tupou this evening at Ericsson Stadium. A big crowd was on hand for the event and they were treated to an exciting night of boxing. After an impressive opening round Asotasi had to climb off the canvas in round two after Tupou dropped him with a jolting right cross. Asotasi had the better of an action-packed round three and dominated the 4th but Tupou answered back strongly in the 5th, another three minutes full of powerful exchanges. But Asotasi sealed the deal with a convincing showing in the final stanza to take a razor-thin verdict, 57-56 on all three cards. The win was Asotasi's first after suffering a surprise defeat at the hands of Jason Smith on debut, a loss where the scorecards had been exactly the same as in tonight's victory. Asotasi landed 153 of 315 punches (.429), Tupou 73 of 373 (.196).
Earlier on the card the two other Kiwis in the group gave the crowd a lot to cheer about in victorious efforts, Paul Anderson improving to 2-0 with a unanimous decision win over Jason Wanganeen and Asotasi's good friend Nathan Pritchard doing the same against the Tongan Jonah Maka. The biggest surprise of the night came in its fourth contest when the highly-touted Australian Mark Somogyi lost by unanimous decision to compatriot Steve Matthews. In a fantastic bout Somogyi had been held to a draw by Ali Habib on debut but was expected to achieve his first victory against Matthews. After the first round that looked to be the case. The Melbourne-born slugger started fantastically, catching his opponent with a bone-rattling combination and two smashing uppercuts, one at either end of the round.
However the fight turned in Matthews's favour fifty seconds into the 2nd as he put Somogyi on his backside with a flush, neck-snapping uppercut. Clearly dazzed Somogyi only just beat the count and barely survived the round. He appeared to have cleaned out the cobwebs in round three, controlling the majority of it before Matthews produced an impressive burst of activity near the end.
Rounds four and five were both exciting affairs with neither man taking a backward step. The 4th was really too close to call but Somogyi finished with a flurry of scoring punches in round five, an effort that only one judge rewarded. Matthews was clearly the aggressor in both rounds and the ringside officials favoured him because of it. The 6th was another close one and if Somogyi had been a little bit busier he may have taken it. His failure to do so was costly as the final scorecards read 57-56, 58-55 and 58-57. Like in his debut Somogyi outlanded his opponent, connecting with 141 of 373 punches (.378) to Matthews' 118 of 618 (.191).
Somogyi wore a bemused expression in the minutes after the verdict, unable to fathom that he was still winless after two professional bouts. He has been spoken of as the class of this group on more than one occasion but with his record now 0-1-1 he'll need to dig deep in his upcoming bouts to get himself into contention...
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