Tony Tolj based his Australian developmental boxing series around an iconic scene in the “Mad Max” movies: Thunderdome.

Tolj, who has been promoting the “Thunderdome” series for 23 years, is prepping for his latest installment on Friday from Metro City, Northbridge, Australia.

Tolj, best known recently for helping broker deals with Jason and Andrew Moloney, has seen his fair share of good fighters come through the series. Former welterweight titleholder Jeff Horn once fought on a card, as did former flyweight titleholder Vic Darchinyan. The series provides a platform for Australian fighters to stay busy, and also for fighters who lack opportunities to test themselves to see if they can get bigger fights.

“The point was to build a good regional circuit to test local fighters,” Tolj said. “We took inspiration from the movie ‘Mad Max,’ as the venue looks like the Thunderdome.”

The main event speaks to the premise. Bilal Seidu and Lewis Clarke – two cruiserweights based in Perth – will rematch in a five-round bout. In their first fight, a split decision victory for Clarke, many – including Seidu – though he was wronged. The rematch was made to provide a conclusion to the lack of clarity around that lingered.

“After the first fight, and given that a lot of people thought Seidu won, we knew we had to make the fight again,” Tolj said. “We did, and it is a good one for where both fighters are in their careers.”

Seidu enters the bout with a record of 2-2-1 (1 KO). The 23-year-old Clarke, meanwhile, is 8-2 (4 KOs). It’s unclear whether either will make it to bigger stages, but that is the point of the series: give domestic-level fighters experience, keep them active and try to help ensure that when they get a chance to step up to the next level, they won’t enter that phase naively.  

“It is hard to get the chance to compete at a world-class level as an Australian boxer, and we give fighters a chance to test themselves,” Tolj said. “Fights like the main event speak to what we are doing. We are putting on good fights with regional fighters.”

Lucas Ketelle is the author of “Inside the Ropes of Boxing,” a guide for young fighters, a writer for BoxingScene and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Find him on X at @BigDogLukie.