Marco Romeo Dethrones Jason Mallia In A Thriller

By Anthony Cocks

Australia has a new welterweight champion after Marco 'Rumble' Romeo (9-1, 5 KOs) snatched the national crown from Jason 'Mayhem' Mallia (10-1, 6 KOs) with an eighth round stoppage at The Star in Sydney, New South Wales on Thursday night. The 24-year-old Romeo from Sydney's Northern Beaches had been chasing a shot a Mallia for a year. Wanderer Promotions granted him his wish on home soil, which was quite the coup following Romeo's narrow decision loss to Jason Fawcett on the Tim Tszyu vs Anthony Velazquez undercard in December last year.

Early in the fight, it looked like Romeo had bitten off more than he could chew. Mallia's handspeed, movement and accuracy was bothering him as the Melburnian exploited holes in his defense. But as the rounds wore on, Romeo gradually worked his way back into the fight, using his superior size and strength to outmuscle the reigning champion. By the halfway point of the 10-round contest the fight hung in the balance. But it was Romeo who had the ascendency after a strong fifth round that saw him detonate hard punches on Mallia's chin, even wobbling him just before the bell.

The 30-year-old Mallia, who was coming off a highlight reel knockout of Lewis Chadwick in his first title defense last July, started well in the sixth but his punches had little effect on Romeo, who continued to march forward and throw hard to the body. The challenger continued to work Mallia over downstairs in the seventh, mixing in hard shots to the head when the opportunity presented itself. Mallia found himself on the canvas midway through the round, but referee Les Fear ruled it a slip.

Romeo went on with it in the eighth, walking down the fatigued Mallia while letting his hands go. A series of vicious left hand blows to the body and head of Mallia left him reeling. Romeo refused to let him off the hook, bullying him to the ropes and bludgeoning him to the canvas. Mallia made it to him feet and beat the count, but he looked under duress. His trainer Angelo Hyder decided he had seen enough and withdrew him from the contest. The official time of the stoppage was 1:37.

"Since I was a kid, all I visualized was being world champion and in order to do that, you have to face the best and take out those who hold the titles," said Romeo, who spent time in camp at the famed Wild Card Boxing Club in Los Angeles. "It was an absolute pleasure to share the ring with Jason Mallia, the way he handled himself inside and outside the ring. "When you're Australian champion you paint a target on your back, but we are ready for all the challengers."

Undercard Results
• Emiliano Tissera UD10 Alex Naman
• Shanell Dargan TKO2 Shannon O'Connell (former world champion O'Connell announced her retirement after the bout)
• Gennaro Colangelo TKO8 Andrew Winchester
• Arlene Blencowe UD8 Nadia Flalhi
• Bayan Yazdani UD6 Hunter Ioane
• Jonathan Sgroi UD6 Allan Villanueva
• Jayden Vasica UD4 Roger Gillbanks
• Ryder Pate TKO4 Simon Aihi
• Luke Maguire TKO4 Jamal Couling

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