Ariitea Putoa superbly opens the OCBC Oceania Confederation Boxing Championships
The first day of the 2015 OCBC Oceania Confederation Boxing Championships took place today in Canberra, Australia, where the competing athletes are fighting for gold medals and quota places for the Doha 2015 AIBA World Boxing Championships.
Bout of the day
Ariitea Putoa won gold at the French Polynesian National Championships last December, and also triumphed at the Pacific Games a month ago.
The Super Heavyweight (91+ kg) sensation opened his competition in Canberra with a superb victory over Samoa’s Ishmael Liaina.
A competitive first round was followed by a dazzling second, as Putoa began to dominate proceedings by knocking down the tough Liaina.
The 20-year-old continued his excellent form into the third round, where he stopped his Samoan opponent after another barrage of brutal punches.
He will now fight Australia’s Commonwealth Games silver medallist Joseph Goodall in an intriguing semi-final.
Fact of the day
30 boxers from eight nations are competing in the championships, where besides Australia and New Zealand, the emerging countries such as American Samoa, French Polynesia, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Vanuatu have also registered boxers.
Tomorrow’s program
The second competition day of the OCBC Oceania Confederation Boxing Championships will be held across nine semi-final contests in Canberra.
