Stratford boxing star Max Reeves has suffered a controversial defeat at the hands of Tonga Tongotongo in their world title fight at the Pullman Hotel last Saturday night.
The referee, Ignatius Missailidis, stopped the IBO Youth World Light Heavyweight Title fight one minute into the sixth round after Tongotongo landed a big punch on Reeves’ chin, the referee calling a halt to proceedings as Reeves took evasive action from a rampant Tongotongo.
At the time of the stoppage all three judges had Reeves clearly in front in the bout, two of them awarding him all five rounds that had been completed.
The decision by the referee to stop the bout caused plenty of contestation ringside, with the crowd booing and promoter Will Tomlinson entering the ring to argue with officials.
The general consensus was that Reeves should have been given more time to work his way out of the situation and the referee was too hasty in calling the bout to a halt.
The fight almost didn’t reach the sixth round with Reeves rocking Tongotongo in round five, the tough former Kiwi hanging on and managing to survive.
Reeves’ coach Paul Carroll was delighted with his charge’s effort, and although disappointed to lose he was super proud of the young role model’s performance and how he handled defeat for the first time.
“Max fought amazingly, I’m super proud of how he handled himself with the decision, it could have been over in the fifth but Tongotongo survived,” Carroll said.
Reeves used his jab to great effect in the first five rounds, constantly scoring with sharp blows, but Tongotongo stood firm, rocking Reeves several times with huge blows that Reeves absorbed manfully.
“We won’t be dwelling on the decision, sometimes things don’t always go your way. Max will head back down to super middleweight for his next contests,” Carroll said.
It wasn’t all bad news for the Reeves camp with new addition, Liam Reynolds, winning his professional debut, knocking out Santiago Aldana with a brutal blow in the first round.
The 24-year-old Reynolds has been working hard in the gym with Reeves, Blake Wells and Carroll since returning from Melbourne where he boxed at the gym owned by former Bairnsdale boxer, Jason Whateley.
Carroll with impressed by Reynolds’ debut, however noted there is still a lot of improvement ahead.
IMAGE: Tonga Tongotongo and Max Reeves following their blockbuster IBO Youth World Light Heavyweight Title last Saturday night which Tongotongo won via a sixth round technical knockout.