Unbeaten Stratford boxer, Max Reeves, continued his rise through the boxing ranks, defeating Queensland tough guy, Adrian Rodriquez in his first defence of his Australian super middleweight title in front of an enthusiastic home crowd at the Gippsland Sports Complex in Sale on Saturday night.
The 10-round bout went the distance, with Reeves winning by unanimous points decision, the three judges scoring the fight 100-89, 100-90 and 100-89.
The large parochial crowd went into a frenzy when the local hero was announced the winner.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing for Reeves, who suffered a nasty cut above his eye from an errant head butt in the early rounds, that was inspected by the doctor, who thankfully for Reeves allowed him to continue.
Conscious to protect the eye, Reeves dominated every round in a classy display, his body punching a feature, constantly making heavy contact to Rodriquez’s midrift, the tough Queenslander refusing to lie down.
Several times he looked likely to be out on his feet and just hanging on, but to his credit he soldiered on, determined to go the distance with the young tyro.
Reeves was glad to get through 10 tough rounds, which he thinks will hold him in great stead going forward.
“It was a tough slog, credit to him for keeping the pressure on for 10 rounds, it was good to test the body over the distance of the fight, the hard work certainly paid off,” Reeves said.
Unfortunately Reeves next assignment in Melbourne next month on another of Will Tomlinson’s Wildfighter card’s looks in doubt, with the cut likely to take a while to heal totally.
