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Harry Garside’s professional debut lasted less than three minutes as he scored a controversial TKO victory over Sachin Mudaliar in Sydney.
The Olympic bronze medallist described the Fijian as “awkward” in the build-up to this fight but there was very little to trouble the 24-year-old, who was declared the winner after two minutes and eight seconds.
Mudaliar withstood a barrage of punches against the ropes and the fight was called off by referee Kevin Hogan, much to the anger of the capacity crowd at Sydney’s Star Casino on Wednesday night.
Mudaliar indicated he wanted to continue and left the ring in a huff but Garside was awarded the victory.
“I was trying my best and was trying to use my right as much as possible,” Garside said.
“He’s tough. He turned up to fight and he said he was still fine.
“I tried my best and thank him for coming out from Fiji this close to Christmas.”
Garside landed the best of the early exchanges but narrowly avoided a hook from Mudaliar in the opening 60 seconds.
That was all the southpaw could offer as Garside came out quick and unleashed his power.
Garside worked Mudaliar against the ropes and while the visitor attempted to duck and weave his way out of the Australian’s punches, he had little success.
He did not throw any punches and Hogan intervened to called time on the fight.
The Victorian revealed he had injured the same left hand he had surgery on after his exploits in Tokyo just before the fight.
“It’s no secret, one of my hands is screwed to be honest,” he said.
“I f—ed it in my last sparring session. I wanted to fight and I’ve got the summer to fix my hand.”
Earlier in the night, bantamweight Sam Goodman claimed the WBO Oriental title with a victory over Filipino fighter Richie Mepranum.
Goodman sealed a sixth-round TKO win against the former world title challenger to keep his undefeated record (10-0-0) intact.
Later, Paul Gallen has survived a first-round scare to seal a TKO victory against a dazed and confused Darcy Lussick.
The third-round win means the only blemish in Gallen’s boxing career is his defeat to Justis Huni.
Gallen gave away 15 centimetres in height, but his experience in the ring proved invaluable as he withstood Lussick’s early barrage to claim the win.
Lussick, whose sole fight prior to this bout was a 39-second knockout of ex-Brisbane Broncos and Queensland rugby league star Justin Hodges, took this match-up with four weeks’ notice.
-AAP
