First Aust. win of world title

Press, 26 June 1989, Page 21

First Aust. win of world title

NZPA-AP Atlantic City Britain’s Dennis Andries called for a rematch after his World Boxing Council light-heavyweight title was taken by Australia’s Jeff Harding on Saturday. Harding stopped Am dries in the final round at the Convention Centre, Atlantic City, to become the first Australian to win a world light-heavyweight title. “I would like a rematch,” said Andries, who admits to being 35, but may be older. “In Australia or anywhere in the world. I didn’t know about the man. That was a mistake. He was a mystery man.” There is an adage in boxing that says, “Kill the body and the head will die.” That is what Harding, a substitute challenger, did to Andries in a fight in which he appeared hopelessly beaten after five rounds. Harding kept hammering away at Andries’ body, even when he was being bombarded by head shots. In the late rounds, as Andries’ legs turned to rubber, Harding took control. After 11 rounds, Andries, who fights out of Detroit’s Kronk Gym, was leading by three points on one official’s card, two on another and one on a third. The referee, Joe Cortez, made the scoring academic when he stopped the fight at 1:23 of the final round after Andries struggled up from the second knockdown. • Orlando Canizales stopped the fellow american, Kelvin Seabrooks, in the eleventh round to retain his International Boxing Federation bantamweight title. The referee, Steve Smoger, stopped the fight at 2:13 of the penultimate round after Canizales landed a four-punch combination that left Seabrooks leaning against the ropes. The fight was a preliminary to the light-heavy-weight championship bout. Seabrook’s right eye was nearly shut and he was bleeding profusley from his nose. Canizales, who won his twenty-second bout against one loss and one drawn, was making the second defence of the title he won from Seabrooks in a 15-round fight a year ago.

Seabrooks lost his fourteenth fight out of 39.