THREE STRIKES - KALI MEEHAN STOPS
COL WILSON FOR THIRD TIME
By Tony Nobbs
07.12.01 - In a hard fought battle
between two former Australian Heavyweight Champions,
Kali "Checkmate" Meehan (25-1,20 ko's) stopped
a determined Colin "Kid" Wilson (22-13-2,
14 ko's) at 2 minutes 48 of the eighth round to retain
his IBF Pan Pacific Title at Wyong, NSW, tonight.
It is Meehan's third inside the distance
win over Wilson and it was the toughest of their three
fights. Both were out of condition and there was too
much holding and untidy missing to say that it was
a real quality affair. Meehan (108 kg) seemed to struggle
with Wilson's aggressive approach and was often forced
to the ropes where Colin did some good work, winning
three of the first seven rounds. Wilson(104 kg), a
southpaw, occasionally switched stances and found
big Kali easy to push back. Body shots gradually took
their toll on Colin and he suffered two knockdowns
from nicely placed left rips in round eight. Referee
Gary Dean, a former NSW Bantamweight Champion stopped
contest immediately following second. Wilson's eyes
started to
bruise during round two. Meehan is trying to rebuild
his career after a 32 second defeat at the hands of
Danny Williams for the Commonwealth Title in June.
He looks to still have a long way to go yet.
Wilson, one of the braver fighters
in Australia was a substitute for New Zealander Kipa
Tasefa and he gave a better account of himself than
expected. He won the Australian title in 1997 and
is best remembered for his brave stand over 12 rounds
in losing the Crown to Joe Bugner in Janurary 1998.
Undercard: Daniel Rowsell (17-1-2) retained his PABA
Cruiserweight Title by stopping wild punching Sam
Lueii(8-10), New Zealand, in round three. Rowsell's
brother Justin fights WBU 140 lb Champion in England
later this month.
Australian Super Middle weight Champion
Marc Bargero (27-8-2) grinded out a close but unanimous
decision over former PABA Super Welter Champ Jason
Rarere (6-10-1) , NZ, over eight. Sydney Lt. Heavyweight
Olympian Danny Green (7-0) stopped tough but limited
Daniel Tai (0-2) in round six. Green, who has stopped
all of his opponents to date has a solid jab and boxes
well but is still green (no pun intended). He and
trainer Jeff Fenech have been talking about fighting
Paul Briggs or Anthony Mundine. A good test would
be tough as teak Paul Smallman who has put his hand
up to fight anyone in the country. HeavyweightPat
Kennedy (5-1) oupointed Christian Taylor over four
rounds and Welterweight Chad Benett(3-0) stopped Micheal
Kilmurray (1-7-1), corner retirement start of round
three. Promoter Keiran O'Connor, quality TV commentaters
for Foxsport were, Joe Bugner, Julian Holland, Nader
Hamden and the Hussein brothers Hussein and Nedal.
Tony Nobbs, Australia
