Hopman wins by majority decision

Masterton pro cruiserweight fighter Zane 'Hybrid' Hopman, left, trades blows with Navosa Ioata during a bout Hopman took by majority decision in Auckland on Thursday. PHOTO/CALDEN SCOTT JAMIESON

Masterton prizefighter Zane 'Hybrid' Hopman has claimed another scalp in his professional boxing career.

Hopman, fighting out of Fortitude Thai Boxing Gym in Masterton, is today ranked No 3 in New Zealand in the pro cruiserweight division, with three losses and two wins to his name, after taking a majority points decision over Navosa Ioata at The Big Bash IV tournament held at the ABA Stadium in Auckland on Thursday.

The undercard bout, which was televised, had been fought over four three-minute rounds before a staunchly parochial audience in Ioata's hometown, and the ringside crowd had greeted the decision with some protest.

"I knew I'd taken the first two rounds quite convincingly, you know, I knew I'd out-punched him. The end of the third round was a bit shakier but then I felt I'd done enough in the fourth to out-point him again, even though he was coming on strong looking for the big finish.

"After Israel (Adeseyna) in my last fight, this was just another kettle of fish. It wasn't any easier, just difficult in another way. Navosa was a lot stronger and was just not moving too much. It was a lot more difficult than Israel for me to deal with," he said.

Ioata landed a good strike in the third round, Hopman said, but he retaliated with a five-punch combination and was left unfazed and still firing on all cylinders.

Hopman, who had Rhys Richards and Craig Thomson in his corner, said he understood the reaction from hometown supporters but the bout had been hard-fought and entertaining and he was happy to take the win.

"Navosa was definitely hard to move back and a lot of the punches I threw, looking at the replay, he just ate up. The crowd did react when the decision was announced. But it's always hard when you go into someone else's backyard and take a victory," Hopman said.

"I've been in that position before, on the losing side, when you thought 'it was pretty tight but I got it', and it goes the other way. I understand it but at the end of the day a win's a win."

There were a couple of fraught months in the lead-up to his latest bout, he said, because of a serious shoulder injury that briefly took him out of training and required weeks of physiotherapy, and his lack of a full-time boxing coach in Masterton.

He had trained with his good mate and corner man Rhys Richards, who had been invaluable, and completed sessions at other gyms that included sparring at Petone Boxing Club with TY Williams under head coach Robbie Martin, and at Napier Boxing Club with head coach Rod Langdon in Napier. to where he is shifting with his partner and young daughter.

"It meant a bit of time on the road and picking up bits and pieces where I could, and bringing that back to rework with Rhys. But it all seemed to come together and worked well enough when it mattered most," he said.

Hopman, a past world and New Zealand kickboxing champion, said that although he was focused on boxing, he would next fight Zack Fatamaka under K1 kickboxing rules at the Honour 10 tournament over Easter weekend in Porirua.

The bout will be his last for Fortitude Thai Boxing Gym before his shift north, he said.