The comeback of Australian talent Harry Garside proved to be a successful one as he halted the plucky Charlie Bell in the final round of a lightweight six inside Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion.
Garside, something of a divisive character in Australia due to his desire to defy gender stereotypes, had been out of the ring since 2022 and had previously become Australia’s first boxing Olympic medallist in three decades at the 2020 Games.
Yet the sharpshooter exhibited little ring rust as he glided in and out of range, pinging Bell with leads and sharp counters. But at the bell to end the first, both were nursing cuts after a clash of heads – with Garside seemingly getting the worst of it.
The wound to the favorite, which was about two inches in length and situated beneath his left eyebrow, slowed his progress in the second as Bell, though being outboxed, upped his work-rate. But Garside, 4-0 (3 KOs), dominated from the third.
A left uppercut stopped Bell in his tracks in the fourth and the referee warned the underdog that he would stop the fight if Garside continued to land with such regularity.
The threat was fulfilled in the sixth with Bell, unhurt, taking shots. Overmatched but not overawed, Bell responded with a foul-mouthed response to the official. No matter, his record falls to 5-2 (2 KOs).
The best scrap on the No Limit Sam Goodman-Cesar Vaca Espinoza undercard was a humdinger at heavyweight as Stevan Ivic made a successful first defense of his Australian title when he pounded out a unanimous 10-round points win over Toese Vousiutu.
The 34-year-old champion, from Brisbane, won the vacant title in October when he defeated John Maila over 10 rounds, but a distance bout never really looked likely here – particularly after a rip-roaring seventh round left both men on the brink of defeat.
Ivic was never cruising but he did appear in control, his lead had and trailing right ramping up the pressure. Vousiutu ended the sixth in trouble, so much so his corner seemed to be considering pulling him out. That feeling intensified early in the next until Vousiutu clattered home a huge right hand and suddenly the fight – previously Ivic’s to lose – was in the balance. Both exchanged during a wild session but it was the challenger in the ascendancy in the eighth, with more right hands hurting and wobbling Ivic.
The back-and-forth action continued through the ninth and 10th rounds. For a while in those final six minutes it seemed like Ivic had steadied the ship with his jab but Vousiuto rallied as waves of hooks and uppercuts crashed into Ivic to leave the champion scrambling for his breath. Incredibly, at the final bell, both men remained upright to hear the scores, 96-94 and two of 96-93, for Ivic.
Ivic, 7-0-1 (2 KOs), remains unbeaten while Vousiutu saw his record fall to 8-2 (7 KOs).