BRISBANE, Australia – Nelson Asofa-Solomona marked his much-anticipated professional debut by stopping his fellow former NRL professional Jeremy Latimore inside a round.
The New Zealander, the biggest player in NRL history, walked away from a lucrative contract to pursue a career as a professional heavyweight and while he will have to achieve considerably more to justify doing so, his career as a prizefighter started in a convincing way.
That the 29 year old was not only a successful rugby player but at his physical peak and had once been filmed winning a street fight in Bali, enhancing the intrigue around him further, means that the interest surrounding him will continue to grow as long as he continues to win, but Latimore ultimately showed too little to be able to judge him.
Asofa-Solomona’s considerable size advantage was apparent throughout at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre – at Thursday’s weigh-in he tipped the scales at 293.4lbs, 45lbs heavier than the Australian who is 10 years his senior – but until the stoppage he fought with either a sense of patience or uncertainty.
He posed a threat early when landing a right uppercut. He fell short with another right hand – his favoured hand was consistently braced to be thrown – before another right uppercut dropped Latimore sufficiently heavily that it was transparent he wouldn’t recover. Inevitably, despite his admirable attempts to return to his feet, he was counted out after two minutes and 27 seconds.
“It feels great,” Asofa-Solomona responded when asked how he felt about starting his career. “[But] I’m not happy with the performance to be honest. I’m not happy with my stance and stuff. I was a bit loose.”
Demsey McKean continued rebuilding by winning a considerably more competitive, all-Australian, heavyweight fight with Toese Vousiutu in the seventh round.
Vousiutu was trapped by the ropes, absorbing increasing punishment and struggling to defend himself when the referee Phillip Holiday rightly intervened to rescue him after one minute and 27 seconds. McKean had lost successive fights, to Filip Hrgovic and the exciting Moses Itauma, before returning to the ring with a victory over Petero Qica in July.
