Hopman prowess wins attention

Rex Redden, left, ex-pat Kiwi fighter and coach, Zane 'Hybrid' Hopman, and John Kamo, Fortitude Gym boxing coach, in the wake of Hopman's professional boxing debut in Australia.

WORLD champion kickboxer Zane 'Hybrid' Hopman has won the attention of transtasman fight promoters after his hard-hitting pro boxing debut in Australia.

Hopman, 24, who fights out of the Fortitude Gym in Masterton under boxing coach John Kamo, lost on a points decision after dominating for most of six rounds against Queensland Cruiserweight champion Jamie Porter at a Jupiter's Hotel and Casino fight night on the Gold Coast in Queensland on December 21.

Rex Redden, former Kiwi kickboxing champion and Hopman corner man alongside Kamo, said 32-year-old Porter, who came into the fight with five wins and two losses, had claimed the state title after taking a seventh round TKO in an eight round bout against Mick King in September last year.

Porter is a former New Zealand Army soldier today fighting out of the Heartbreak Gym, made famous on the television reality show The GC, who was placed seventh in the Australian cruiserweight rankings.

Redden said Hopman, who took the fight at extremely short notice, went in to the bout with a "game plan to stick and move" and overwhelm his opponent with superior boxing.

Hopman had "executed perfectly and really outboxed Porter" with a long jab and counter punches in the opening round, Redden said.

He had continued to mete out the same style of precision punishment in the second and third rounds.

Hopman controlled the fourth and fifth rounds and even though Porter was throwing more punches "nothing was landing", Redden said.

Hopman had shuddered Porter with "a nice right hand" in the dying rounds before the former Kaeo fighter "edged out Zane with a higher work rate".

"All in all, everyone couldn't believe how well Zane boxed. We were a bit bummed about the call, it was definitely a hometown decision. But hey, that's the fight game."

Redden said the bout was judged the fight of the night and the promoter of the clash "wants Zane back for more fights" and had staked his claim alongside three other promoters in Sydney and Melbourne also hunting Hopman for fights.

"He was clean and had great timing. He listened to everything we told him and proved he is a force to be reckoned with under boxing rules."

Hopman said he had to accept the decision handed down on the night despite "pretty clear cut" advice he was ahead on points at the close of the fourth round.

"My corner was pretty positive almost from the start and both Rex and John were saying I was out-punching him every round. But the harsh reality of it is that if you're going in to someone else's backyard, you've got to make it definitive and either knock them down or knock them out to get the win."

Hopman said he had a pivotal year ahead, including his next pro kickboxing bout on February 14 against WMC Australia cruiserweight champion Steve 'Killer Bee' Behan at the Knees of Fury 50 event in Adelaide.

His sponsors, Kuripuni Sports Bar, Wai Weight, CLM, Lone Star Masterton and Trev's Sports had been vital, he said, during a year in which he also had opened his professional Thai boxing career and become a proud parent with partner Chloe-Anne Wilson of their first child, Isabella.