A well executed win for Hopman

Bryce Baron (left), Rhys Richards and Zane Hopman after the unanimous decision at the first televised King in the Ring tournament in Porirua on Friday night. Photo/Calden Scott Jamieson

Masterton pro fighter Zane "Hybrid" Hopman has seized his second win this month, with a unanimous decision victory in a kick-boxing rematch against Pati "The Arsenal" Afoa.

Hopman said his cruiserweight triumph over Afoa had been well executed, and "in a way" more rewarding than a knockout, during the K1 rules bout at the first King in the Ring Eliminator tournament at the Te Rauparaha Arena in Porirua on Friday night.

The 62kg eight-man tournament was televised, with the crown on the night going to Alexi "Phet" Serepisos, from Jai Thai Boxing in Wellington. Hopman, fighting out of the Fortitude Thai Boxing Gym in Masterton, fought in the second bout on the undercard and his corner crew included head Fortitude coach Bryce Baron, boxing coach John Kamo and fellow Masterton club fighter Rhys Richards.

"I'm really really happy with my performance on Friday night. For me, it was better than getting a knockout in a way. I put together a professional plan, followed it through, and dominated. It was good for me and a lot of different techniques and combinations paid off. Hands, knees, kicking, everything fell into place."

A year earlier, Hopman had lost his New Zealand WMC cruiserweight championship belt to Afoa, 36, who had then put on the line his New Zealand WKBF cruiserweight title, in a blended rules bout as part of a televised heavyweight King in the Ring Eliminator tournament.

"It was a real nasty set-up last year for sure. We had to fight three rounds under one set of rules and two rounds full Thai. But they were amateur titles and now I'm professional, so that's all in the past. This time I took it - definitively."

Hopman also won this month, by way of TKO, in a professional cruiserweight boxing match against ex-pat Hungarian Balazs Varga on the undercard of a multiple title fight tournament at the Mansfield Tavern near Brisbane, Australia.

Hopman said he had been working detailed training sets since the transtasman bout earlier this month and the tactical regime had paid dividends on the night.

"I went in with a really good game plan that we've been working on since we got back from Aussie. Utilise my range properly, particularly during lunchtime pad rounds with Rhys. I just wanted to execute that plan well and I think I did. It worked mint.

"My kick-boxing has benefited dramatically since I've been boxing as well. Because K1 kick-boxing is such a different rule set from Thai boxing. Without the extended grapple and the single knee, boxing under K1 rules becomes such a huge part of the game," he said.

"You really use your hands a lot and put a kick on the end or come through with a single knee. Hands pretty much set up everything in kick-boxing."

Hopman said his sponsors and fans had remained vital to his fight plan as well.

Hopman is awaiting confirmation of his third pro boxing bout transtasman. He is also in the 40-fighter New Zealand WMC squad and, for the first time, will battle in the open heavyweight division at the WMC IFMA world championships in Bangkok, Thailand, in August.

Last year, he won a gold medal as a heavyweight amateur at the WMC IMFA World Championships in Malaysia.