Tony Tolj has added another promising prospect to his growing stable.
The driving force behind Australian twins Jason and Andrew Moloney and former featherweight champion Chris John before them has signed an advisory pact with unbeaten bantamweight Vegas Larfield (4-0, 4KOs). The head of Dragon Fire Boxing will work alongside Larfield’s boxing-long manager Phil Murphy in nurturing the 19-year-old Brisbane-based talent.
"Phil Murphy has played an integral part in my career since I was 16 years old and to have him behind me is amazing. The link-up with Tony Tolj and Dragon Fire Boxing ensures that I am in the best of hands moving forward in my career,” Larfield stated of his alignment with Tolj.
Larfield enjoyed a respectable amateur career, claiming 55 wins among roughly 70 fights before turning pro last summer as boxing was once again permitted in Australia following the pandemic. His pro debut came on a massive domestic stage, serving in supporting capacity to the well-publicized passing-of-the-torch clash between Tim Tszyu and former welterweight titlist Jeff Horn. Larfield won by 1st round knockout on the undercard of the August 2020 show in Townsville, Australia.
From there came a trip to the United States, accompanying Andrew Moloney who fought in a bid to regain his WBA “World” junior bantamweight title in a rematch with Joshua Franco. The November 2020 bout came as the chief support to pound-for-pound entrant Terence Crawford (37-0, 28KOs) successfully defending his WBO welterweight title for the fourth time with a 4th round knockout of Kell Brook. Larfield found himself in a competitive matchup versus unbeaten Juan Alberto Flores (2-0-1 at the time), whom he stopped in the third round of their bantamweight clash.
"I've boxed on a massive show in Australia on the undercard of Jeff Horn and Anthony Mundine and then I've shared a bill with Andrew Moloney, who is an inspiration to all Australian fighters,” notes Larfield. “Fighting on that card was definitely the highlight of my career so far.”
Larfield has since kept it local in each of last two fights. Both took place at Nissan Arena in Nathan, Queensland, Australia and ended in knockout including a 3rd round stoppage of 39-fight veteran John Min—a late replacement after Larfield’s original opponent with drew on short notice.
Moves are being made regarding his next fight, with his career in extremely capable hands.
Tolj has worked feverishly to guide the Moloneys to the championship stage, a mission that has come complete with his spending more time in Australia-mandated quarantine than any other boxing figure. His work extends beyond the twins, currently managing or advising more than two dozen fighters including unbeaten Chilean flyweight prospect Andres Campos (10-0, 2KOs) and streaking junior lightweight contender Bruno Tarimo (26-2-2, 5KOs) among others.
The signing of Larfield comes on the heels of Tolj adding junior middleweight prospect Victor Nagbe (4-0, 0KOs) to his stable earlier this month.
“Vegas is a real talent, he has already shown that on the big stage, so I am delighted he has chosen to work with Dragon Fire Boxing,” states Tolj. “I am really excited about his future. Larfield has already boxed on the same show as Andrew Moloney, so he knows how it feels to fight on the big stage.
“This is something that we look to continue to do with him. He has the ability to go as far as he wants in boxing."
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
