The Oracle Arena at the Dolmen Hotel in Buġibba was packed to the rafters recently for the ‘We will rock you’ night of boxing, the fourth organised by promoter Demis Tonna this year.
Fighters from different clubs, including Fight Factory, Ying Yang, Dixon’s School of Boxing, Brown’s Boxing Club and Team Zahra, came together to make it a memorable show and a great success for the organisers.
The card included 11 fights with the opening bout being a women’s bantamweight match between Mandy Cortis and Kelly Young.
Victory went to Cortis who beat her British opponent on points, 30-27 according to the judges.
Nico Sciberras had the better of Christian Chafai in super light-weight and James Armond Borg took the verdict over Karlo Yates in a welterweight fight.
There was a technical KO decision in favour of Garth Galea over Alex Boswell in the next bout, a super welterweight contest, as Chris Debono beat Jack O’Sullivan on points in cruiserweight.
In the heavyweight class, Darren Borg first eliminated Michael Carter before being crowned the new Prize Fighting champion after his win over former title holder Mark Cutajar in the final.
One of the bouts that attracted the interest of those present at the Oracle was the middleweight fight between Richard Vella and Dino Shields Richards. At stake was the semi-pro title sanctioned by the Malta Boxing Commission.
Shields fell to the canvas in the first round and that made the ‘Viper’ feel more confident. Vella looked the more composed fighter on the night and went on to claim a hard-earned victory as both fighters were applauded for their efforts at the end of the fight.
Meanwhile, Tyrone Borg stopped Steve Aquilina in cruiser-weight, two minutes and 28 seconds into the third round.
Borg was stunned by a first-round knockdown but regained his confidence to send his veteran opponent to the canvas twice before he was counted for a third and last time.
After the match, it was announ-ced that Borg will now be granted a licence as a pro fighter by the Malta Boxing Commission.
In the remaining bout, a light welterweight pro contest, Steve Martin again proved he’s the one to beat in this class following his victory over Lebanon-born fighter Slaibi who is based in Germany.
Martin has now improved to seven wins, four losses and one draw in 12 competitive fights.
In a statement, Prize Boxing Promotions, on behalf of its fighters, expressed their appreciation for the support shown by Independent Boxing Association president Alan Morlock, particularly team mana-ger Darren Mairs, as well as the Malta Boxing Commission and the World Boxing Union.
“We also want to thank all our sponsors mainly Eat Me I’m Famous and 77 Great Estates as well as Badass Burgers, Continental Cars and Stay Gold Ink Studio,” Tonna said.