Australian junior middleweight prospect Craig Hill, Jr. couldn’t get past the veteran smarts of Rey Anton Olarte in Brisbane on Thursday night. Olarte (17-23-9, 4 KO), who took the fight on a week’s notice, managed to make things awkward and was in much better condition than his record might indicate. Hill (9-0-1, 8 KO) also did himself no favours by consistently walking on to left hands from the southpaw. Hill landed the more powerful shots throughout, and dropped the Filipino at the end of the 3rd. Olarte, though, was more active and cut Hill over the left eye in round 7. He came on strong through the final rounds but it wasn’t enough, with both fighters unimpressed when the split draw was announced
The night was otherwise notable for its fabulous nicknames, with boxers going by “The Ginger Ninja”, “The Pimpernel” and “The Boogy Man” all making appearances.
The highlight of the undercard was a brutal junior lightweight bout between Brent Elliott (10-3-3, 3 KO) and Waylon Law (5-5, 1 KO). Law was dropped by a right hand on the bell at the end of the first round, but fell in such a comical fashion the referee was convinced he was clowning and failed to start a count. So that was a first. Dropped again in the fourth, Law was more than happy to bang with the shorter Elliott, who went to the body with gusto. The final round was spectacular, with Elliott starting strong but finishing nearly out on his feet. He ended up getting the split decision nod, though we can only hope there’ll be a rematch.
